China moves on the world's high speed rail market

from EIU's Gulliver's Travel newsletter (3/16):

First China, next the world
Mar 15th 2010, 16:15 by M.A. | BEIJING

"SCARCELY a week goes by without another glowing report about racy Chinese trains. China's plans to build a 16,000-mile high-speed-rail network have been generating a lot of attention of late, thanks in part to the fascination non-Chinese readers have with the speed of China's advances—a sentiment evident in comments on Gulliver's previous related posts. China is running the world's fastest commercial rail service, and is rapidly building its vastest network. Now, as if to further stoke the fires, comes news that the country's high-speed ambitions extend beyond its borders.

On Saturday officials said China would bid for high-speed rail contracts in America, in line with an agreement reached during Barack Obama's visit in November. More intriguingly, on Friday came confirmation that China had mooted a plan to construct a high-speed network spanning 17 countries." ...

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