BEIJING - High-speed train services will expand to China's western regions including Gansu, Guizhou and Qinghai provinces as well as the Inner Mongolia autonomous region starting from Dec 10, the China Railway Corporation said on Monday.

New high-speed links connecting Lanzhou-Urumqi, Jining-Baotou, and Guiyang-Guangzhou, will see bullet trains span less-developed regions for the first time, the company said.

Meanwhile, the country's railway networks will adopt new train schedules in tandem with the opening of bullet train services in these regions, the company said.

After the new services are launched, the number of train schedules in China will reach 5,347, 58 percent of which will be high-speed train services, the company said.