BEIJING - China's railway network registered steady growth in cargo transport in the first 11 months of the year, data from the China State Railway Group Co Ltd showed.

The country's State-operated railways handled over 3.12 billion tons of cargo in the past 11 months, up 6.8 percent year-on-year.

During the period, the average number of daily loaded cargo trains expanded 10.8 percent to around 167,700.

The group is expected to reach a cumulative cargo growth of 500 million tons in 2018 and 2019, according to the company.

China aims to increase its total railway cargo volume by 30 percent from 2017 level to reach about 4.8 billion tons in 2020, a three-year government action plan unveiled last year said.