In 2016, China's high-speed rail will enter countries such as the United States, Indonesia, Russia, and Brazil, showcasing advanced high-speed rail technology under extremely cold climate conditions and complex geological conditions.
On January 21, 2016, the Indonesia "Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail" project, designed and constructed by China, officially broke ground in Walini, Indonesia. This is a milestone event in China's railway "going global" strategy.
In addition to the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail, according to the "Railway Work Conference" held by China Railway Corporation in January 2016, China will also overcome and advance more overseas railway infrastructure projects, including the Russia Moscow-Kazan High-Speed Rail, the US Western Express, the Malaysia-Singapore High-Speed Rail, the Two-Ocean Railway crossing the South American continent, and the Tanzania-Zambia Railway.
Currently, Jiemian News has confirmed the accuracy of this information with insiders at China Railway Corporation.
Across the Pacific, the US Western Express railway project, jointly constructed by China Railway Corporation and the US Western Express Company, is about to start. The Western Express high-speed railway is 370 kilometers long and will connect southern Nevada with southern California.
The project responds to the consensus of the two heads of state on carrying out pragmatic China-US economic and trade cooperation. It is the first systematic high-speed rail cooperation project between China and the United States, one of the major infrastructure projects in China-US economic and trade cooperation, and has special significance for China's railway "going global".
The United States has always focused on highway development for land transportation, and railway development has been relatively lagging. Las Vegas and Los Angeles, as two important cities in the western United States, often experience highway congestion. Once the Western Express is completed, it will greatly relieve the traffic pressure between the two cities.
At present, both sides have been intensively carrying out related work, including determining financing plans, and the project is expected to start construction at the end of September 2016.
Another key project to be tackled is the Russia Moscow-Kazan High-Speed Rail project. In June last year, China formally signed a contract with Russia, and China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co., Ltd. will jointly undertake survey and design work with the Nizhny Novgorod Metro Design Institute.
Most of this high-speed rail is located in extremely cold regions, and China has considerable experience in the construction of high-speed rail in extremely cold areas and in high-speed train equipment for extremely cold conditions. In December 2012, the Harbin-Dalian High-Speed Rail, the world's first high-speed railway crossing extremely cold regions, officially opened to traffic. The train can operate normally under extreme conditions of minus 50 degrees Celsius.
In addition to the limitations of extremely cold climate, complex geological conditions are also a major challenge. The two railways crossing the South American continent, jointly planned by China, Brazil, and Peru, need to cross the towering Andes Mountains, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from ports in Peru.
China's role in this project is crucial because China possesses world-leading plateau railway engineering design and construction capabilities, with short construction periods and low average costs. The construction technical plan for crossing the Andes Mountains is the key to the success of this project.
Currently, the Panama Canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans has long been under US control. Once the Two-Ocean Railway is completed, it will become a convenient passage from Brazil to Asia, breaking the monopoly on international logistics. On the other hand, the construction of the railway network will also greatly boost the economic development of Latin American countries themselves.
In addition to the high-speed rail projects about to start in 2016, major projects currently under construction include the China-Laos Railway, China-Thailand Railway, Hungary-Serbia Railway, Pakistan Lahore Orange Line Light Rail, and Indonesia Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail.
On the one hand, international high-speed rail market demand is huge. Against the backdrop of currently low international energy and steel prices, more and more infrastructure projects will be launched in due course, which is a huge economic pie for China.
On the other hand, China's railway and subway-related technologies are world-leading, and it has experience in building railways under various geological conditions and extreme conditions. The export of railway technology will usher in broad market space for railway exports.
The export of China's railway construction equipment and technology can be traced back to the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, completed in the 1970s through cooperation among China, Tanzania, and Zambia. Against the backdrop of a construction project with strong political significance, this railway became a touchstone for China's close political cooperation with Africa.
Today, China's overall industrialization level and capacity for exporting infrastructure projects are far beyond what they used to be. The export market for Chinese railway equipment has spread across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, achieving full coverage of six continents. Railway equipment has also transformed from pure product exports to comprehensive exports of products, engineering, technology, and standards.