An investigation team has been established in Lanzhou, Gansu province, to verify reports of "unqualified" rubber materials allegedly used in bridge construction along the railway connecting China's northwest Ningxia Hui autonomous region with the northeast Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The Lanzhou railway supervisors have attached great importance to the issue and already dispatched personnel to the scene to investigate, according to the latest release by the National Railway Administration on its official WeChat account on Friday.

Several media outlets recently reported that the company contracted to build the Yinchuan-Bayanhot railway is suspected of using substandard rubber materials in some bridges along the line, with the media coverage sparking heated discussions online.

The railway, still under construction, connects Ningxia's Yinchuan with Bayanhot in Inner Mongolia.