China brings high-speed rail expertise to US

California project underway

Steve Hawley, Apr 14, 10.

China, which has a reputation for quickly building inexpensive high-speed rail lines, is bringing its expertise to California, according to the New York Times. The Chinese government has signed tentative agreements with the state and with General Electric to help build a high-speed line between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

China is not the only country interested in American high-speed rail. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Spain have all approached California offering their services. The California High-Speed Rail Authority has not formally decided which country’s technology to use, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is particularly interested in the Chinese offer, and he will be visiting China later this year for talks with the country’s rail officials.

China has also expressed interest in helping California finance the rail line. In 2008, voters approved $9 billion in bonds to start construction, and in February the high-speed rail authority received $2.25 billion in stimulus funds. However, the state still needs an additional $32 billion to complete the line, of which up to $12 billion could possibly come from Chinese banks.

The Times notes that China would still face some obstacles in the United States:

China’s rail ministry would face independent labor unions and democratically elected politicians, neither of which it has to deal with at home. The United States also has labor and immigration laws stricter than those in China.

In a nearly two-hour interview at the rail ministry’s monolithic headquarters here, Mr. Zheng said repeatedly that any Chinese bid would comply with all American laws and regulations.
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“[B]uy American” pressures could make it hard for China to export the necessary equipment to the United States.
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State-owned Chinese equipment manufacturers initially licensed many of their designs over the last decade from Japan, Germany and France. While Chinese companies have gone on to make many changes and innovations, Japanese executives in particular have grumbled that Chinese technology resembles theirs, raising the possibility of legal challenges if any patents have been violated.

China is opening 1,200 miles of high-speed rail this year alone, and it is in the process of connecting almost all its provincial capitals by high-speed rail. The country is also helping build high-speed rail lines in Turkey, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia, and it is hoping to get involved in Brazilian high-speed rail efforts.

General Electric estimates that the US will spend $13 billion on high-speed rail in the next five years. China, by comparison, is expected to spend $300 billion in just three years.

California’s 465-mile high-speed rail route is scheduled to open in 2020, with future extensions to Sacramento and San Diego.