High-speed rail link expands beyond borders

Premier Li Keqiang is playing the role of "high-speed train ambassador" again during his ongoing visits in Europe as leading officials from China, Hungary, Serbia and Macedonia agreed on Wednesday to build a land-sea express route by expanding the Budapest-Belgrade rail line to Skopje, Athens and the major container port of Piraeus in Greece. The agreement follows the China-Thailand high-speed railway cooperative program that Thailand has approved.

The country's cooperation with a number of countries s to build a high-speed rail network connecting it with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Europe and some other parts of the world will help reshape China's economic landscape and boost the regional economy.

By the end of 2013, China had a high-speed train network of more than 10,000 kilometers, the world's largest, which connected many major cities making travel and freight transport much faster and more convenient. By the end of 2015, the mileage is expected to reach 19,000 km.

China's high-speed railway program is not confined to the country. It is now crossing borders, as Thailand has agreed to build a $12.2-billion railway line connecting the two countries. Aside from Thailand, China is planning to build a high-speed rail network through Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Middle East nations like Iran and Turkey up to Germany. In the north, Beijing is reportedly negotiating with Moscow to build a line stretching from Heilongjiang province to Russia's northern regions. As for the Thailand project, it is likely to be extended through Malaysia to reach Singapore. Besides, some African countries could get China's help to build more railways.

Such massive projects were unimaginable some years ago, when many doubted China's capability to build an extensive high-speed train network. The attention then was focused on the cost effectiveness and financial sustainability of the projects, because critics said it would be difficult for the operators to make profits. The corruption case against former railways minister Liu Zhijun and the tragic accident in Wenzhou in 2011 also cast dark shadows on the high-speed rail project.