Starting Thursday, passengers will be able to select seats when buying bullet train tickets online, China Railway Corp said.

When entering the ticket purchase page on 12306.cn or the mobile phone application, passengers can choose seats before submitting payment. If the available seats do not meet customers' preferences, the system will automatically choose a seat instead.

The railway department launched a pilot trial service to allow passengers to choose their seats on the bullet train in the round-island high-speed rail in South China's Hainan province in December of 2016.

According to a statement released by China Railway Corp, passengers can log on to 12306.cn, the national railway official website, for further information.