SHANGHAI—Chinese car and battery maker BYD Co. launched a monorail transport system Thursday, as it looks into China's multibillion-dollar mass transit market.

BYD, which is about 8% owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said in a statement that it has spent five billion yuan, or $750 million, on research and development for the monorail program over the past five years.

The monorail will be put into operation at its headquarters in Shenzhen, running for a distance of 4.4 kilometers, a spokeswoman for the company said Friday. Cars on the monorail system are capable of running at speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour (50mph).

BYD has won an order for 250-kilometer monorail system from the nearby city of Shantou, the spokeswoman said. Another 20 cities on the mainland are in talks with the company over potential purchases, she said.

China's transport ministry said in May that the country will invest around 4.7 trillion yuan in transport infrastructure projects over the next three years.

As cities grow and congestion increases, Beijing is calling for companies to intensify their efforts in developing new rail technology. BYD said building a monorail system requires only a fifth of the capital expenditure of a metro line and a third of the construction time.

The transport ministry said earlier this year that the total length of China's light rail transit system will be increased from the current 3,300 kilometers to about 6,000 kilometers by 2020.

--Rose Yu

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 14, 2016 01:15 ET (05:15 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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