Intercity lines with speeds ranging from 200–350 km/h (120–220 mph) are designed to provide regional high-speed rail service between large cities and metropolitan areas that are generally within the same province. They are built with the approval of the central government but are financed and operated largely by local governments with limited investment and oversight from the China Rail Corporation. Some intercity lines run parallel to national grid high-speed rail lines but serve more stations along the route.
The 2004 Railway Network Plan arranged for intercity lines around the Bohai Rim, Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas. The 2008 Revision to the Railway Network Plan designated Changsha, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an and coastal Fujian metropolitan areas for intercity rail development. The 2016 Revision to the Railway Network Plan identifies the Shandong Peninsula, coastal Guangxi, Harbin-Changchun, southern Liaoning, central Yunnan, central Guizhou, the northern slopes of Tian Shan, Yinchuan, Hohhot-Baotou-Ordos-Yulin as additional metro regions for intercity rail.
