China replaced US as world's largest market for Railway technology

[greenlion]

SCI verkher published their report of the worldwide market for railway technology, 2010 edtion in September 14,2010,

http://www.sci.de/fileadmin/user_upload/WM2010/100914_MCWMPresentation.pdf

Regional market growing

China replaced US as the country with the largest market value for the first time, Russia surpass Germany in third place

Top ten rolling stock manufacturers by turnover, CSR almost catch up with Alstom

and reports from railjournal.com

http://www.railjournal.com/news-extra/the-rise-of-chinese-railway-diplomacy.html

The rise of Chinese railway diplomacy

In recent months China has signed a flurry of agreements with foreign governments promising closer cooperation in the rail sector. Keith Barrow looks at why railways are now a hot topic at intergovernmental summits.

THE UNPRECENDENTED investment in China's railway network over the last decade has transformed the country's railway supply industry. Chinese construction companies are building high-speed lines to ever-greater technical standards, and building them in record time. A new study by SCI Verkehr suggests CSR and CNR are now the world's third and fourth largest suppliers of rolling stock.

These manufacturers are investing heavily in research and production. This year CSR unveiled China's first domestically-developed high-speed train, the CRH380A, and the company says it completed the development of a 7.2MW six-axle electric locomotive and built a prototype in just six months. CSR claims it now has the capacity to manufacture a staggering 800 electric locomotives per year.

The aim of this escalation in activity has been primarily to satisfy the massive domestic demand for new rail equipment as the Chinese government ploughs trillions of Yuan into developing the network. But it is in foreign markets where the true potential of China's rail industry is about to be unleashed, with the backing of the government and Chinese financial institutions.

Rail investment has been a recurrent theme at recent intergovernmental summits and while it is nothing new, so-called railway diplomacy is an increasingly-prominent feature of Chinese foreign policy. Beijing appears to be offering an infrastructure bonanza to countries that might otherwise struggle to marshal the resources required for major transport projects, and China's financial muscle means it can afford to back projects with a rate of return stretching over decades, even in countries with a difficult credit history.

Argentina is still suffering the effects of defaulting on its debts eight years ago and funding infrastructure investment remains a major challenge in the wake of the global financial crisis. In July China agreed to invest $US 10 billion in Argentine rail projects, despite a continuing trade dispute between the two countries. Chinese rolling stock manufacturers look set to reap the rewards of this agreement, which includes the acquisition of 16 locomotives and 160 coaches for inter-city services, and 279 metro cars for Buenos Aires.

In August Thailand and China agreed to form a joint venture to develop plans for two high-speed lines. The first would run for 580km from Bangkok to Nong Khai and the Thai government says construction could start in the second half of next year with the first trains running in 2015. China is expected to assist with the feasibility study, which will reportedly take around two months to complete. If it comes to fruition, the Thai high-speed line could be a showcase for Chinese high-speed technology at the heart of the fast-developing Asian market.

Last month a three-day state visit to Beijing led by South African President Mr Jacob Zuma yielded yet another bilateral cooperative agreement on rail transport, this time promising collaboration on infrastructure development, financing, safety, technology transfer, and harmonisation of technical standards. Chinese railways minister Mr Liu Zhijin said his country is willing to share its expertise in a number of fields, including high-speed rail.

This coincided with an announcement that a conceptual framework for a Durban - Johannesburg high-speed line will be completed by next March as part of a 20-year national transport plan, which will also consider new lines from Johannesburg to Cape Town and Musina.

Railway diplomacy has even reached Europe. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich returned from a state visit to Beijing last month with a $US 950 million loan to finance a new rail link to Kiev Borispol International Airport.

China is not the only Asian economic power seeking to assert its position in the international rolling stock market. With domestic demand dwindling, Japanese suppliers envisage a much greater role for exports in the future, and they are preparing to compete with Chinese competitors on a global level. This was demonstrated in June when Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi signed an agreement to cooperate in developing products for the international urban rail market, a segment where Chinese suppliers are also eager to expand their presence.

The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said last month the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation would be prepared to offer long-term, low-interest loans to the state government of California if it adopts Shinkansen technology for its high-speed network. Like China, Japan is clearly willing to throw the finance in with technology to seize the opportunities in emerging markets.

SCI Verkehr's study supports the view that a fundamental shift is underway in the railway supply industry, and Asian companies are in the ascendancy. China's astute promotion of its railway industry abroad, its ability to finance infrastructure on attractive terms, and the increasingly-high quality of products on offer means Chinese suppliers are poised to increase their international presence.

 

[greenlion]

Era of ?Created in China?

Era of “Created in China”

– An interview with CSR President Zheng Changhong

By Chen Biao and Zhu Huiyue, china pictorial

“Over the past six years, we’ve been working around the clock.”

CP: In May 2010, the China-made 380 kph CRH locomotive, the world’s fastest train, was unveiled. It will begin operation on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway in 2011. What a path has CSR walked in terms of technological innovation?

Zheng: CSR has grasped core technology with respect to high-speed locomotive development and production, while building a platform for high-speed train design, manufacturing and testing. Like I said before, CSR has followed a path from absorbing foreign technology to the genesis of independent technological innovation. The year 2004 marked the debut of high-speed railways in China. That year, China began introducing high-speed rail technology from multinational giants such as Bombardier, Alstom, Siemens, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Then, in 2006, the first Chinese-made high-speed CRH locomotive with a speed of 250 kilometers per hour rolled off the production line of CSR’s manufacturing base in Qingdao City. On April 18, 2007, China launched its sixth railway speed acceleration, for which CSR supplied 47 CRH trains, accounting for more than 90 percent of all CRH trains in operation. CSR made the bold move of forming a systemic development platform for high-speed locomotives and further upgrading its design and manufacturing technology.

Later, we began to independently develop high-speed CRH trains with a maximum velocity of 300-350 kilometers per hour, which eventually rolled off the production line in December 2007. Currently, our new 380A EMU is under development for the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, and an experimental train now runs at nights on the Zhengzhou-Xi’an Railway to test its performance, aerodynamics, traction, safety, and comfort. The experimental train is equipped with nearly 1,000 sensors, each of which transfers information instantly to the control system. It has been proven that the faster the train runs, the safer it is. Our superiority over our market competitors lies in our rich experience in high-speed train testing, operation and maintenance.

Over the past six years, we’ve been working around the clock. Many of our employees devote themselves 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some engineers often work daily until midnight. It is common for our employees to sacrifice vacation, even during the Spring Festival which is regarded as the most important holiday in China. Since the very beginning, we’ve practiced the so-called “1:3 Concept” with introduction of advanced technology. That means that for each one yuan of introduced technology, we invest three yuan to absorb and upgrade it. We’ve invested a huge amount in laboratories and testing equipment because the development of high-speed EMU requires continual experimentation. A total of 10,000 scientists and technicians including more than 20 academicians, as well as 14 research institutions, including Institute of Mechanics and Institute of Computer Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, participate in our high-speed EMU project. Some foreign experts have noted that in the past six years we’ve completed jobs that took them four decades. This is because we’ve been able to finish three or even five days’ work in a single day.

Currently, our products have been exported to more than 40 countries and regions around the world. In 2009, our overseas orders increased by 60 percent from the previous year. Nowadays, overseas orders contribute 10 percent of our revenue, and the figure is expected to grow to 20 percent in the near future. In the past, CSR mainly exported train parts, but now we focus on exporting assembled trains, of which 70-80 percent are high value-added locomotives, CRH trains, and subway vehicles. Our market share has grown consistently. If high-speed trains are allowed to be exported, they will testify to the popularity of “created-in-China” products in the international market.

On November 17, 2009, when US President Barack Obama visited China, the Ministry of Railways signed a cooperative agreement with GE, according to which the two parties agreed to strengthen cooperation in the US high-speed railway project with a designed velocity to exceed 350 kilometers per hour. The United States intends to introduce high-speed railway technology just like China did a few years ago. In 2009, when he visited China, US Secretary of Commerce Gary Faye Locke commented that a century ago China exported railway laborers to the US, but now it exports railway technology. Indeed, we’ve realized the evolution from the “made-in-China” era to the “created-in-China” era. We’re proud that we’ve made our own contribution in nudging China towards a new era of high-speed railway transportation.

(Unless otherwise noted, all photos courtesy of CSR)