China Railway Corporation (CRC), the national railway ­operator that was spun off from the now defunct Ministry of Railways, is scaling back its annual investment in fixed assets by 30 billion yuan ($4.96 billion) to 630 billion yuan for 2014, according to an annual railway work report released Thursday.

With the investment plan, new railway lines totaling 6,600 kilometers will be put into operation this year, Sheng Guangzu, general manager of CRC, said while delivering the work report, the first of its kind after the dissolving of the railway ministry, the Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.

Xinhua reported in August that an announcement of an ­extra fixed-assets investment of 10 billion yuan has brought CRC's annual investment target for 2013 to 660 billion yuan.

For the whole year of 2013, the country completed a total of 663.8 billion yuan in railway fixed-assets investment, ­according to figures released Monday by the national railway operator.

The less ambitious goal set for this year might be a reflection of challenges faced by CRC in raising additional capital for further railway construction, factoring into its huge debt burden, Zhao Jian, a professor with the School of Economics and Management at Beijing Jiaotong University, told the Global Times Thursday.

By the end of the third quarter of 2013, CRC's debt-to-asset ratio had risen to 63.22 percent, with its debts hitting 3.06 ­trillion yuan as opposed to its total assets of 4.84 trillion yuan, according to figures from CRC's third-quarter fiscal disclosure.

Sheng, the former railway minister, also pledged on Thursday to push ahead with reforms of the railway financing system that include expediting of the opening-up of the railway industry to private investment.

In a push to deepen reforms of the country's ailing railway sector, the State Council published a set of detailed plans in August 2013 to innovate railway funding and speed up railway construction, encouraging private investment in new railway projects.

Industry watchers noted it will still take a long time for the full implementation of an overhaul of the railway system.

The debts are likely to further pile up, Qu Yongzhong, an analyst at the Beijing-based Hongyuan Securities, told the Global Times Thursday.

"It's very likely that the ­Chinese government would eventually make the repayment, albeit reluctantly," said Zhao.

In addition to continued efforts to reform the country's railway system, Sheng also said that CRC will push for overseas investment in a bid to enhance the global competitive edge of China's railways.