China hosted the 12th International Union of Railways (UIC) World Congress July 8-11, in Beijing, with over 2,000 participants from over 60 countries participating. Global Times today features the reactions of international participants to experiencing first-hand what China has accomplished with this key modern infrastructure, not only by developing an extensive domestic high-speed rail system, but by also building such transformational railways as the Jakarta-Bandung, the Hungary-Serbia Railway; and most recently, the China-Laos Railway. A few examples from the article suffice:
UIC Chairman Alan Beroud: “In less than two decades, China has created the largest and most advanced high-speed rail system in the world. It’s reshaping mobility, the economy and regional development.”
Kevin Smith, editor-in-chief of Britain’s International Railway Journal, was quoted by China Daily as calling China’s 48,000 km network connecting nearly every city in the country with a population of more than 500,000 “a vital toolkit…. It’s a central plan to connect the whole country and to promote economic development.… There’s a real willingness to change the geography of the country, bringing cities that are once distant much closer together.”
Dennis Noble, an engineer with Queensland Rail in Australia: “Nobody has done this sort of network expansion in a short period. It’s very commendable, and something others can look forward to.”
Matsui Shiro, president of Japan’s Hitachi NICO Transmission Co., Ltd., a company which has long partnered with China, pointed out the benefits of international cooperation on building highspeed rail globally: “In the past 40-plus years, it was through our development in China that we were able to seize unprecedented opportunities. The Belt and Road Initiative has opened new doors for China-Japan joint ventures in third-party markets. We see great prospects for effective partnerships in many areas.”
China Daily summed up the spirit of the UIC Congress in Beijing: “Over time, China’s high-speed rail is increasingly seen as a scalable model—built not only on steel and speed, but also on long-term strategy and international partnership.”
