High-speed trains running from Beijing to Shanghai at 350 km/h in only 4 and half hours --- a dream or reality?

Sitting on the tidy, comfortable railway seats and enjoying the considerate service of the Japanese Shinkansen --- are we in Tokyo or Beijing?

All this occurred at the Modern Railways 2002 Exhibition that opened in Beijing on Wednesday, where visitors can experience the latest Japanese technology and ideas.

The Japanese railway sector has brought a large number of railway companies to the exhibition, indicative of their high hopes of involvement in China's railways market. Japan built the world's first high speed railway, the Shinkansen which has run at speeds of 300 km/h for 39 years without a single person being killed.

"We hope to participate in the Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway project, and we hope China has its own Shinkansen," said Yasuki Kurasawa, administrative director of the Japanese Overseas Rolling Stock Association, voicing his belief that China's railway sector will be accessible now that the country is in the WTO.

With the theme of "raising speed, improving safety, developing high-speed railways and information systems", the exhibition has attracted more than 150 businesses from a dozen countries like Germany, France, the United States, Japan, Canada and the Republic of Korea.

"It's a collection of the world's top railway technology and products," said Xiong Yongjun, head of the sponsor, the China Academy of Railway Sciences (CARS). He said that he hoped the exhibition would boost China's railway development with more advanced technology and ideas.

Siemens Transportation Systems Group from Germany, for example, showed a series of model trains to attract visitors, such as the new European "concept train" capable of the world's top speed, and a newly designed high-speed train on which it is convenient to work.

China to open up railway market step by step

China's Vice Minister of Railways Cai Qinghua pointed out that the country's railways still lag behind developed countries. China would open up its railway market step by step following its WTO entry, and the technology gap would shrink as more foreign capital, advanced technology and management expertise were introduced.

Statistics show that China will spend 350 billion yuan (about 42.3 billion U.S. dollars) on railway construction during the current tenth five-year plan period (2001-2005), in a bid to achieve international levels reached at the end of the 20th century, and then advanced levels in some key railway sectors by 2015.

China has decided to use top technology for the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Project, which has drawn worldwide attention. The 1,300 kilometer-long railway will be its first ever high-speed railway.

Chinese railway experts say that no matter what kind of technology is used, the project will tell the world that it is no longer a dream for China's railways to reach world standards.

( People's Daily June 13, 2002)