BEIJING — Nearly 150 years after American railroads brought in thousands of Chinese laborers to build rail lines across the West, China is poised once again to play a role in American rail construction. But this time, it would be an entirely different role: supplying the technology, equipment and engineers to build high-speed rail lines.
The Chinese government has signed cooperation agreements with the State of California and General Electric to help build such lines. The agreements, both of which are preliminary, show China’s desire to become a big exporter and licensor of bullet trains traveling 215 miles an hour, an environmentally friendly technology in which China has raced past the United States in the last few years.
“We are the most advanced in many fields, and we are willing to share with the United States,” Zheng Jian, the chief planner and director of high-speed rail at China’s railway ministry, said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has closely followed progress in the discussions with China and hopes to come here later this year for talks with rail ministry officials, said David Crane, the governor’s special adviser for jobs and economic growth, and a board member of the California High Speed Rail Authority.
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6 comments:
Jobs for the Chinese???
Probably paid for with stimulus $$$.
Good, maybe someone can get our railroads up to the standards they should be, we have done a terrible job with the railroads.
Poison pet food. Toxic toys.
And they want us to ride on Chinese-made trains at 200+MPH?
Not me, dude.
Has anyone ever heard of the economic term of comparative advantage? It is just smart business.
i work on chinese motorbikes everyday they are one thing but seeing how they are made no thank you
Anonymous 10:55 AM
You got to be kidding.
The North American FREIGHT railroads are the only railroads on the planet that that turn a profit.
Everywhere else on the planet the railroads are either government or semi government run enterprises who's primary propose is to carry passengers. All of them are subsidized to some extent of another and none of them turn a profit anywhere close to what the North American FREIGHT railroads do.
Sand Box John
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