Imagineoneday,gettingoutofbedinBeijingandbeingatyourofficeinShanghaiinonlyacoupleofhours,andthen,afterafulldayofwork,goingbackhometoBeijingandhavingdinnerthere.
Soundsunusual,doesn'tit?Butit'snotthatunrealistic,withthedevelopmentofChina’shigh—speedrailwaysystem.Andthat’snotall.Chinahasanevengreaterhigh—speedrailwayplan—toconnectthecountrywithSoutheastAsia,andeventuallyEasternEurope.
Chinaisnegotiatingtoextenditsownhigh·-speedrailwaynetworktoupto17countriesin10to15years,eventuallyreachingLondonandSingapore.
Chinahasproposedthreesuchprojects.ThefirstwouldpossiblyconnectKunmingwithSingaporeviaVietnamandMalaysia.AnothercouldstartinUrumqiandgothroughKazakhstanandUzbekistan,andpossiblytoGermany.ThethirdwouldstartinthenortheastandgonorththroughRussiaandthenintoWesternEurope.
IfChina’splanforthehigh-speedrailwaygoesforward,peoplecouldzipoverfromLondontoBeijinginundertwodays.
ThenewsystemwouldstillfollowChina’shigh—speedrailwaystandard.Andthetrainswouldbeabletogo346kilometersanhour,almostasfastassomeairplanes.
China’sbullettrain(高速客车),theoneconnectingWuhantoGuangzhou,alreadyhastheWorld’sfastestaveragespeed.Itcovers1069kilometersinaboutthreehours.
Ofcourse,therearesometechnicalchallengestoovercome.Therearesomanyissuesthatneedtobesettled,suchassafety,railgauge(轨距),maintenanceofrailwaytracks.So,it’simportanttopayattentiontoeverydetail.
Butthekeyissueisreallymoney.Chinaisalreadyspendinghundredsofbillionsofyuanondomesticrailwayexpansion.
Chinaprefersthattheothercountriespayinnaturalresourcesratherthanwithcapitalinvestment.ResourcesfromthosecountriescouldstreamintoChinatosustaindevelopment.
It’11beawin-winproject.Forothercountries,therailwaynetworkwilldefinitelycreatemoreopportunitiesforbusiness,tourismandsoon,nottomentionthebettercommunicationamongthosecountries.
ForChina,suchaprojectwouldnotonlyconnectitwiththerestofAsiaandbringsomemuch-neededresources,butwouldalsohelpdevelopC