China's rail freight volume rises at fastest in three years

China's October rail freight volume rose 11.2 percent from a year earlier, the biggest increase in three years, as a construction boom and government infrastructure spending spurred demand for raw materials from steel to cement. Rail freight volume increased to 307.2 million tonnes last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.
In the first 10 months, the amount of cargo carried by rail declined 3.3 percent from a year earlier to 2.71 billion tonnes, the smallest drop since November 2014. Rail freight volume grew in August for the first time after falling for 31 consecutive months since December 2013. China has depended on a surging real estate market and government infrastructure spending to drive the economy this year.