Rail cargo in China posted its first growth in five years, expanding 15.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017 to 724 million tons, China Railway Group, the country's top rail operator, said on Monday.
In March alone, rail freight grew by 16.3 percent year-on-year to 254 million tons, the data showed.
The rail system experienced a prolonged downturn in freight volume since 2012, with the sharpest drop of 11.6 percent taking place in 2015, according to financial news publication Caixin.
In 2016, freight volume declined by 2.3 percent year-on-year to 2.65 billion tons, Caixin reported on Tuesday.
