(Yicai Global) June 10 -- Only the underground metro systems in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Qingdao have broken even, while another 24 are all operating at a loss, new figures show.

In 28 cities, it costs on average CNY23.80 (USD3.50) a kilometer to run a single subway train, while ticket sales bring in CNY17.20 for the same distance, the 21st Century Business Herald reported yesterday. Despite the 28 percent shortfall, the gap has narrowed 8 percentage points since 2017.

Construction of China's first underground mass transit systems was completed in Beijing in 1969. Thirty-three cities now have them, with total track of 4,600 kilometers.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, specified in 2015 that new schemes must carry at least 7,000 people a day per kilometer at the outset. Beijing has the largest average ridership nationwide, and the capital and Shanghai each had a daily trip volume of over 10 million, while those of another 12 cities exceeded 1 million.

As of June 6, 13 cities had more than 100 km of subway lines in operation. Of these, Shanghai ranked first with 669 km, Beijing came in second at 617 km, and Guangzhou third with 473. Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou also took the top three slots for number of lines, with 20, 15 and 14, respectively.

Editor: Ben Armour