Summary：Railway Minister Sheng Guangzu has denied recent rumors that his ministry would merge with the Ministry of Communications and construction work on China's high-speed railway network had been halted.

Railway Minister Sheng Guangzu has denied recent rumors that his ministry would merge with the Ministry of Communications and construction work on China's high-speed railway network had been halted.

Earlier media reports cited insiders who said the Chinese Academy of Engineering had conducted research on merging the two ministries.

"I have never heard of it," Sheng said about the reports.

Some previous media reports also said construction work on China's high-speed railway had stopped because of the Railway Ministry's high debt ratio of 60 percent.

"The high-speed railway construction has not been halted, and the debt ratio won't affect the construction." Sheng said in response.

The number of railway construction projects in China increased dramatically after the government rolled out a 4 billion-yuan (US$633.4-million) stimulus plan to counter the 2008 financial crisis. Most of the funds went to infrastructure construction.

But the sector was hit hard in the second half of 2011 after the government tightened liquidity control and a deadly train collision killed 40 people in east China last July, eroding investor confidence and limiting the ministry's ability to borrow money or sell bonds.