BEIJING - WORK began on Friday on a high-speed railway line linking China's capital Beijing with financial centre Shanghai which will cut the journey time in half.

The railway, with a designed speed of 350 kph (220 mph), will shrink a journey of over 11 hours to just five, sources with the Ministry of Railway told Xinhua news agency.

Construction is due to be completed in five years.

China has started building several new express rail projects, including a 115 km line that will cut the travel time from Beijing to the port city of Tianjin in half ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

China aims to have 12,000 km of express-rail lines by 2020, linking provincial capitals and large and medium-sized cities, as well as cities in the booming Bohai Sea, Yangtze and Pearl River regions.