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Should you happen to stroll in the English countryside in the not so distant future, you might catch a glimpse of a train flashing past - a train built with technology from China, which is becoming increasingly ambitious in its efforts to export its high-speed railway technology to Europe.

Chinese involvement in high-speed railways in the United Kingdom was mentioned during Premier Wen Jiabao's state visit to the UK, at his news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in late June.

Following the high-speed line that connects the United Kingdom with the European Continent, Britain is considering a second high-speed line linking its two largest cities.

High-Speed Two, or HS2 for short, is the proposed link between London and Birmingham that would reduce the journey of about 180 km from about 90 minutes to 49. The plan has bipartisan support in Parliament, and has raised speculation about whether Chinese companies would be involved. However, it is unclear when and how the train would be built, or how much Chinese companies might get from the 32 billion ($51.33 billion) total project.

Chikage Miyoshi, a Cranfield University lecturer who has researched the competition between high-speed railways and airplanes, said Chinese train makers have a pricing advantage over current train manufacturers in France or Germany.

"The strength of Chinese manufacturers would be the cost. And then technology would soon follow, because the (Chinese) government is very aggressively seeking to improve and launch (Chinese) technology," Miyoshi said.

The export of Chinese high-speed trains into Europe might threaten manufacturers in Europe, she said.

At this stage it is also unclear whether any foreign companies would be awarded contracts for the HS2 project. In an interview with the BBC, Antonia Mochan, spokeswoman for the European Commission, said the UK government has a long record of granting contracts to domestic companies.

"Our figures show that 98.5 percent of UK public procurement stays with UK companies," Mochan said. "So it is only 1.5 percent of UK public spending that goes to companies outside the UK."

However, it is still not certain that HS2 will get the green light. While the proposed high-speed line would be a big boost for Birmingham, not everyone supports it.

Mike Loftus is former manager of Locate, a local government affiliate responsible for attracting business to the city. He said, "The business community and the city of Birmingham do appear to be very positive about the idea and see real benefits to Birmingham if it actually happens."

However, residents in the areas through which the high-speed line would pass are less enthusiastic. "It is quite clear there is considerable local resistance along the route it takes from London to Birmingham," Loftus said.

"There are cheaper ways to achieve the same objective in terms of increasing rail capacity," said Joe Rukin, spokesman for a grass-roots action group called Stop HS2. "Britain is a very small country. It's only once you have the longer distance trains that you get the benefit of speed. HS2 is just encouraging more people to travel greater distances at a time when we don't need that."