By Staf Reporter Dong Yan

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CRH China's Glamorous‘Business Card'

By Staf Reporter Dong Yan

On November 26， 2013， Premier Li Keqiang and leaders of 16 Central and Eastern European countries visited exhibition of Chinese high-speed railway facilities and equipment in Palace of Parliament in Bucharest， Romania.

On October 16， the consortia led by the China Railway International Co. Ltd. and the Indonesian State-owned company PT Wijaya Karya Tbk （Wika） signed an agreement on forming a joint venture to build a high-speed railway linking Jakarta to Bandung. On November 21， Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at the 18th China ASEAN（10+1） leaders' meeting in Kuala Lumpur that eforts will be made to start construction of the China-Tailand， China-Laos and other railway projects before the end of this year， to further promote China-ASEN land connectivity.

Super Salesman

On November 26， 2013， a video being played at the entrance of the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest， Romania， showed a well-connected high-speed rail network， speeding bullet trains，high-speed rail stations with modern facilities，and bustling crowds of smiling passengers. In front of the screen stood the leaders of 16 Central and Eastern European countries watching the video attentively.

That was the exhibition of Chinese highspeed railway facilities and equipment. There was a huge LED screen on the wall and a model of bullet train standing in the center of the hall. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was enthusiastically introducing China's high-speed railway products to the other government leaders.

It is very rarely that the Chinese premier“promote” or “advertise” a special product during his trip abroad. However， that was not the frst time for Premier Li to do so. Only just a month before， during his visit to Thailand，he invited then Tai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to pay a visit to Chinese high-speed railway exhibition.

In the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center of Bangkok where Chinese classical music was played in the background， Premier Li introduced China's competitive advantage in high-speed railway to his Tai host who also talked of Tailand's railway construction program and its role in regional connectivity.

On May 5， 2014， during his visit to Africa，Premier Li Keqiang invited the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Chairman of the African Union to tour the Chinese railway and aviation show while giving them a detailed introduction of Chinese high-speed railway and aircraft，both of which are characterized by mature technology and service， creditable quality and reasonable price.

During the visit to the African Union，Premier Li said China would continue to give priority to infrastructure construction in the cooperation with Africa and work together with African countries to build a high-speed railway network， a highway network， and a regional aviation network spanning the vast continent. Besides， “We are also ready to establish a high-speed railway R&D center in Africa，” he added.

“China's CRH boasts obvious competitive advantages because of its mature technology and abundant construction experience. Tere is no doubt that it can deal with various actual conditions of African countries and meet the needs of local markets，” said this “super salesman” who was sincerely introducing Chinese high-speed railway to the leaders of African countries.

Created in China 100 Percent

China's high-speed railway started from the building of the Qinghuangdao-Shenyang passenger line in 1999. On August 1， 2008， the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Express Railway went into operation， a milestone in Chinese railway development. Te travel time between the two cities was shortened to merely 30 minutes.

It is by building the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Express Railway and the Wuhan-Guangzhou High-speed Railway that China really mastered the world-leading technology，thus laying a solid foundation for the construction of internationally advanced passenger lines and high-speed railways on a large scale.

Subsequently， a number of newly-builthigh-speed railway lines came into service one afer another， including the Beijing-Shanghai，Beijing-Guangzhou， Nanjing-Hangzhou，Hangzhou-Ningbo， Tianjin-Qinhuangdao，Xiamen-Shenzhen， and Xi'an-Baoji lines. Te total high-speed rail mileage reached 16，000 km at the end of 2014 of 33， 28 provinces have been connected by high-speed railway.

With more than 10 years of hard work in transforming its railway system， China has developed the world's biggest high-speed railway network with the fastest speed.

In the past， China's export of railway technology mainly relied on ofering vehicles，components and parts， communication signaling equipment and handling engineering subcontracts. Now， the country has developed a complete set of high-speed rail standards and technologies， including the design standard system， system integration technological system， equipment manufacturing standard system， construction， installation and debugging standard system， joint debugging and commissioning standard system， and operation and maintenance standard system.

As the manufacturing level of high-end equipment in this country has improved continuously and the global economic and trade cooperation deepened gradually， China's highspeed railway begins to make its presence felt in the international market.

From Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang introducing Chinese high-speed rail to the world during their visits abroad， to China's participation in the British construction of high-speed rail lines， cooperation with Serbia and Hungary in building Serbia-Hungary railway， cooperation with Romania in the high-speed rail construction；from the construction of the Ankara-Istanbul High-speed Railway to Chinese enterprises' bidding on the high-speed rail projects in Latin America， all these show that high-speed railways have become a new “business card” of China.

Either the laboratory test or the actual operation， China's high-speed railway is the world record holder. The test speed of CSR CIT500 test train on the rolling rig in the laboratory has reached 605 kph. The highest test speed during railway operation was 486.1 kph， which was created by CRH380A bullet trains on the Zaozhuang-Bengbu section of the Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway in 2010.

In actual operation， the highest speed of the newly-built high-speed railway projects in China can reach 350 kph； those in France and Germany stay at 320 kph； and that of the Japanese Shinkansen is 300 kph.

The emphasis now is on comfort. When compared with those in other countries， it still has much room to increase the train speed. At present， the core parts of the high-speed train - the electric drive system and network control system， were “created in China” 100 percent.

Win-win

From the perspectives of geopolitics and economic development， China works hard to encourage the high-speed railway to go global，a move which can not only meet the needs of Asia in accelerating the regional economic integration， but also help integrate the resources in various countries in Asia， Europe， America，and Africa， therefore strengthening global connectivity.

It is understood that since Premier Li Keqiang first promoted “China's high-speed rail” in Thailand in October 2013， he has so far expressed willingness to cooperate with Tailand， Austria， Romania， Britain， Ethiopia，the US， and Zimbabwe， in building high-speed railways.

Why do Chinese leaders choose to promote the equipment manufacturing industry like the high-speed railway during their visits abroad？ Premier Li gave a straightforward answer during his visit to Eastern Europe:“win-win”. “Chinese equipment has a price advantage. If it is available in the international market， in particular， entering the emerging market countries， this will not only help improve local infrastructural facilities， but also enhance the quality and service level of Chinese products. Benefits will thus be brought to both sides in many ways，” he said. Te further implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative is likely to make breakthroughs in the CRH international operation model driven by investment and operation in a relatively short period of time. If so， the pan-Asian， Central Asian and Eurasian railway projects being planned will be pushed forward step by step to accelerate. Each of the projects demands an investment of over 1 trillion yuan.（$ 156.5 billion This is really a boon for the medium- and long-term development of both Chinese and foreign enterprises in this feld.

Inspecting the CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Compamy on July 17，2015 Chinese President Xi Jinping said: “CRH has become a glamorous business card of China.”

A CRH 380A train for its trial run on the Hefei-Fuzhou high-speed railway on June 1， 2015.