China Railway Erju Co announced on Thursday that it has won five contracts worth a total of 4.61 billion yuan (US$675 million), or 16 percent of its yearly target, benefiting from the country's infrastructure boom and the rebuilding efforts in earthquake-ravaged areas.

The Shanghai-listed builder said it won a 3 billion yuan contract for part of a railway upgrading project in Central China's Hunan province, the largest order among the five.

The construction company also booked an order to rebuild a town in Wenchuan county, the epicenter of last year's devastating earthquake, valued at 102 million yuan.

The company won a 943 million yuan order to build part of an expressway in Sichuan province.

"The streams of orders and contracts will help the builder guarantee its rapid growth in the future," Guosen Securities said in a note to clients.

"The rebuilding in the earthquake zone and the construction of the Chengdu and Chongqing special economic zones will also generate more orders for the company," the securities house said.

China Railway Erju Co has booked 10.6 billion yuan worth of orders as of April 5, the company said.

The builder aims to garner 29.2 billion yuan in orders this year.

Its largest rivals have received even bigger order positions as the country steps up its spending efforts in infrastructure construction under the 4 trillion yuan economic stimulus package.

(China Daily April 10, 2009)