Chinese train manufacturer Nanche Sifang Locomotive and six Japanese companies have won the bid for China's new bullet train.

The Chinese Railway Ministry's US$12 billion project aims to double the speed of trains on five major existing railway lines to 200 kilometers per hour.

The five train lines, stretching over 2,000 kilometers, include one linking Beijing and Shenyang in the province of Liaoning and another to connect Qingdao in the coastal province of Shandong with Jinan in the same province.

The six Japanese companies are expected to offer a modified version of a Japanese Shinkansen bullet train, which can run at a top speed of 275 kilometers per hour.

This would mark the first major transfer of Japan's Shinkansen technology to China.

(CRI August 30, 2004)