WASHINGTON (AFP) - US conglomerate General Electric Co. said it had won a big contract to supply 300 train locomotives to China to help in the booming country's bid to modernise its vast rail network.

GE said it had signed the contract worth more than 450 million dollars with the Chinese Railways Ministry to supply the 6,000-horsepower locomotives in cooperation with the Qishuyan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works.

"We are excited and pleased to advance our presence in the rail industry in China," said John Dineen, chief executive of GE Infrastructure's rail business, in a statement.

The deal "will open new lines of revenue, give us a larger installed base outside of North America and enable GE to better compete to replace China's current fleet of 6,500 mainline locomotives over the next 15 years", he said.

Delivery of the locomotives is planned to start in 2007 and end in 2009.

The Railways Ministry Tuesday outlined plans to list parts of China's vast but creaking rail network on global stock markets to raise some of the 250 billion dollars it needs over the next 15 years for renovation and expansion.

Although investment has poured into China's roads and airports, its laggard railway system has not kept pace, causing holdups at the country's ports and lengthy delays in the delivery of commodities.