Shenhua Group Corp Ltd, the world's largest coal distributor, is accelerating the pace of construction of a cross-border railway project as an independent transportation passageway to further explore international resource opportunities.

"Constructed by Shenhua Group, the Ganquan railway linking the Sino-Mongolian border port to Baotou city in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region will start operating in January 2014," Wang Xingzhong, president of Shenhua's Baoshen Railway Co Ltd, told China Daily.

Total investment in the Ganquan railway by Shenhua is around 7.5 billion yuan ($1.22 billion). The project was defined as one of main drivers of economic and trade cooperation between China and Mongolia.