China rail cos look abroad for expansion

BEIJING, Feb 27 (AFP): China's rail and train builders, who gained valuable experience at home in projects with Western heavyweights, are now competing with them for global contracts, but analysts say a lack of international savvy could clip their ambitions. China already has 8,300 kilometres (5,150 miles) of high-speed rail and from next year will boast more than half of the world's fast tracks. The country is also pouring money into its urban underground networks, with nearly two dozen major cities given the green light in late 2009 to build 89 metro lines by 2016 -- at an estimated cost of 880 billion yuan ($134 billion). Train constructors China Northern Railway (CNR) and China Southern Railway (CSR), along with China Railway Group and China Railway Construction Corp Ltd., are now confidently battling -- and earning the respect of -- industry giants Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens, from whom they acquired significant technology. Chinese firms gained the rights to use certain rail technology when they bought equipment from Western firms, which they went on to modify. China says its products are the result of homegrown innovation, but some foreign executives complained in the past that technology meant for domestic use is now being used -- unfairly -- in products for export.