Chinese high-speed trains go global
中国高速列车走向全球
China's high-speed railway technology has made huge strides in the past decade. The development of China's rail lines, which has expanded abroad, is central to the country's monumental trade route projects. Quality and safety are always concerns. CCTV's Hou Yun files this report from a testing center in Beijing used by a leading Chinese high-speed train manufacturer.
It's Mid-autumn Day in China, and families are marking the festival together.
But at this testing center used by Qingdao Sifang Corporation, engineers and workers are busy carrying out tests on new bullet trains.
The train - developed and built entirely in China - can reach speeds of 350 kilometers per hour.
The company has placed great emphasis on safety, equipping wheels with flanges - a projecting rim around the rail to prevent the train from derailing.
Comfort is not forgotten with passengers enjoying free Wifi and multi-function seating.
Perhaps most important is the country's integrated standard for train manufacturing... which means that two passenger cars produced by different companies can be seamlessly connected.
"There is no similar technology in the world so far. This demonstrates China's world-leading capability in system integration," Tao Guidong, deputy director of tech. center, CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., said.
China has over 1,900 bullet trains running across its railway network.
And the success of China's high-speed rail sector has not gone unnoticed overseas.
Since June, Chinese companies have struck high-speed rail deals in countries including the US, Russia and India.
The booming sector will in turn help make China's Belt and Road Initiative a reality...as transportation is the key to connecting the nations along the economic belt.
"The high-speed railway of China can facilitate the 'One Belt One Road' strategy through three aspects. Firstly, it will help form the infrastructure to promote the goods and passenger flows between China and Asian countries. Second, it will release the cargo capacity of conventional lines, so as to establish an advanced logistic system. The last is to help the export of Chinese high-speed railway products and to deepening the economic cooperation between China and other countries," Li Hongchang, associate professor of Beijing Jiaotong University, said.
At last year's APEC Summit in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping said 'only when there is a road, can people and things flow'... in a clear reference to the importance of transportation in the Belt and Road Initiative. China's advances in high-speed rail technology will ensure an unprecedented level of inter-connectivity between China and the rest of the world.