Communist
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2008
- Messages
- 3,489
- Reaction score
- 0
China to Build Pan Asia-Europe 17 Country Rail Network
Mar. 8 China has announced plans to develop a three-pronged high speed rail network that will expand its own tracks to a further seventeen countries throughout Asia and stretch as far as Europe.
Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has said that China was in negotiations with several countries to develop rail networks developed to Chinas national specifications, and that the network would be financed on the basis of trade for the technology.
The plans include Southeast Asia, with a network to run south from Kunming through Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia on the way to Singapore and west across to Myanmar and India.
A western network would run from Urumqi through Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, possibly connecting through Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey through to Germany.
The third spur would leave Heilongjiang, cross Mongolia, Russia and head west across Siberia on the way to Europe. China and Russia have already agreed to build a high speed rail line across Siberia.
However, logistics problems still have to be worked out. Not all countries operate the same gauge rail as Chinas high speed trains, and the cost would be enormous high speed track is three times more expensive than conventional rail and all routes would require new track to be laid. In order to take part in the increased trade such routes would bring, some countries are prepared to offer trade incentives in exchange for financial backing on the high speed routes. Myanmar, for example, is apparently prepared to offer rich reserves of lithium, a metal with many industrial applications in computing.
The routes also go hand in hand with some of the oil and gas pipelines heading into China from Siberia and Central Asia. China expects trade and commerce to develop significantly in the Western regions with the establishment of mines, factories, and business centers throughout Xinjiang Province and Central Asia as the routes assist sustainable development in the region.
China to Build Pan Asia-Europe 17 Country Rail Network | 2point6billion.com - Foreign Direct Investment in Asia
Mar. 8 China has announced plans to develop a three-pronged high speed rail network that will expand its own tracks to a further seventeen countries throughout Asia and stretch as far as Europe.
Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has said that China was in negotiations with several countries to develop rail networks developed to Chinas national specifications, and that the network would be financed on the basis of trade for the technology.
The plans include Southeast Asia, with a network to run south from Kunming through Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia on the way to Singapore and west across to Myanmar and India.
A western network would run from Urumqi through Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, possibly connecting through Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey through to Germany.
The third spur would leave Heilongjiang, cross Mongolia, Russia and head west across Siberia on the way to Europe. China and Russia have already agreed to build a high speed rail line across Siberia.
However, logistics problems still have to be worked out. Not all countries operate the same gauge rail as Chinas high speed trains, and the cost would be enormous high speed track is three times more expensive than conventional rail and all routes would require new track to be laid. In order to take part in the increased trade such routes would bring, some countries are prepared to offer trade incentives in exchange for financial backing on the high speed routes. Myanmar, for example, is apparently prepared to offer rich reserves of lithium, a metal with many industrial applications in computing.
The routes also go hand in hand with some of the oil and gas pipelines heading into China from Siberia and Central Asia. China expects trade and commerce to develop significantly in the Western regions with the establishment of mines, factories, and business centers throughout Xinjiang Province and Central Asia as the routes assist sustainable development in the region.
China to Build Pan Asia-Europe 17 Country Rail Network | 2point6billion.com - Foreign Direct Investment in Asia
