China's first high-speed railway controlled by private capital was put into operation on Saturday in east China's Zhejiang Province.

The Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Taizhou intercity railway is among China's first group of high-speed railway projects funded by a public-private partnership (PPP), with the private sector having a holding status.

With a total investment of nearly 44.9 billion yuan (about 7 billion U.S. dollars), the 266.9-kilometer rail line was designed with eight stops and to facilitate speeds of 350 kilometers per hour.

The construction of the railway began in 2017. The track-laying work was completed in June 2021.