当
领先于全世界的日本和欧洲高速铁路企业同意为中国建造高速列车时，它们想的是自己即将进入中国蓬勃发展的新市场、拿下数十亿美元的合同和建设史上最雄心勃勃的高速铁路系统为自己树立的声望。
Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Ima
图集：“出于蓝而胜于蓝”的中国高铁
曾为川崎重工业(Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.)、西门子(Siemens AG)、阿尔斯通公司(Alstom SA)和庞巴迪(Bombardier Inc.)等企业初级伙伴的中国铁路公司，如今正与世界巨头在超高速铁路系统这个全球新兴市场上一拼高下。无论是在美国、沙特阿拉伯、巴西，还是在中国国内，中国铁路企业在多数情况下其列车销售速度都要快于外国竞争对手。前不久美国加州州长施瓦辛格(Arnold Schwarzenegger)访问中国时说，他对于中国参与修建加州高速铁路很感兴趣。
中国铁路行业的迅猛发展体现出中国政府推进国有企业发展、获取国外先进技术的国家经济战略，尽管这种战略是以其外国伙伴的利益为代价。这种方式向美国和其它诸多大国发出挑战，使在华经营的跨国企业的焦虑进一步增加。
国外汽车和航空航天等产业长久以来一直寻求从中国巨大的市场中获益，它们在中国成立合资公司，并获得了巨大回报。但也正是通过合资公司，有些企业将自己的技术拱手相让，从而打开了让中国企业与自己在世界市场上竞争的大门。世界货币基金组织(International Monetary Fund)特别顾问、中国央行前副行长朱民在周一《华尔街日报》CEO理事会(Wall Street Journal CEO Council)上说，中国未来十年有望在全球先进机械设备的制造中占有大约三分之一的份额，高于目前8%的水平。
Getty Images
工人们在北京火车南站
中国南车青岛四方机车车辆股份有限公司庞大的生产厂房中正在进行火花飞溅的焊接活动，而中国铁路业的未来就是在这一过程中化茧为蝶。这列名为CRH380A的最新高速动车组配有可完全放平的一等座，最高运行时速可达每小时236英里（约合380公里），预计2012年投入北京至上海段的运营，届时将把目前10小时的旅行时间缩减至4小时。预计中国高速铁路通车里程到2020年将达到9,700英里（约合15611公里）。
依照中国南车与川崎重工业签订的协议，前者于2004年便获得了日本高速铁路技术。中国南车多位工程师和高管说，他们已对日本的技术进行了调整和改善，从而使列车运行速度更快，乘坐更加舒适。日本和欧洲目前运行着世界上最快的列车，时速可达每小时约199英里（约合320公里）。
中国南车高级工程师梁建英面对车间里组装了一半的具有流线型车头、身披蓝银两色的CRH380A高速动车组，她面带微笑，十分自豪。她解释说，公司如何减小了车轮和轨道之间的摩擦以及如何使列车更加符合空气动力学原理等。她说，我们对原技术进行了改善、优化和自我创新，最终完成了一个崭新的设计。
这家南车集团工厂的企业文化部部长邬群亮插嘴说，看，这一点也不像川崎的子弹头列车。另一名高级工程师王新洪补充说，我们是站在巨人的肩膀上通过不断的探索实践才达到现在（高速列车技术上）的成就。
外国企业通常都不愿公开批评手握强权的铁道部。西门子发言人白安(Bernd Eitel)说，该公司同它的中国合作伙伴之间有一种信任的关系，希望这种关系能够持续。庞巴迪中国总裁张剑炜在一份声明中说，我们签有合同和协定，双方都尊重它们。法国公司阿尔斯通的发言人拒绝置评，说这一问题具有敏感性。
但川崎在一份声明中说，它和其他高速列车制造商不认同中国宣称它创造了自有技术的说法。管理人员说，如今中国运行的多数列车都几乎与它外国伙伴的列车一模一样。他们提到列车只是对车身外部图案和内部装饰进行了细微变动，再就是改进了推进系统以提高速度。川崎在声明中说，中国说这部分知识产权为它所独有，但川崎和其他外国企业却不这么认为。川崎还说它希望通过商业谈判来解决这一问题。川崎说，它在谈判中强调它与财政部达成的技术转让合约阐明，该技术仅限于在中国使用，中国企业不能将其应用到它们希望出口的产品中。
而在私下，一些高管们更加直言不讳。川崎的一位高管说，宣称最近研制的多数子弹头列车都是中国自己的也许有利于培养民族自豪感……但这只不过是虚假的宣传。这位高管还说，当你的对手掌握了你的技术，而他们的成本基础又要低很多时，你该如何同他们竞争？
其他国家也利用并改造过国外的技术。战后的日本对外国技术进行反向设计，这在某种程度上帮助日本成功实现了转变，并最终培养出一批科技公司、钢铁企业、造船商和汽车生产商，包括本田汽车公司(Honda)和丰田汽车公司(Toyota)。韩国后来也有类似的经历。
中国独一无二的特点是它广阔的国内市场，这使得外国企业甘于交出它们的专有技术，来分得中国市场上的一杯羹。随着中国越来越青睐于国内的供应商，它也能够进一步“加码”，要求那些想开展业务的公司转让更加先进的技术。纽约Commodore研究及咨询公司(Commodore Research & Consultancy)的分析师温克勒(Andrew Forbes Winkler)说，任何将新的技术、发明和理念引入中国的公司都不得不应对“山寨”问题，一种你大可以称之为“强盗”文化的现象。他说，从手机到汽车，中国企业以利用他人的知识产权为自豪，也为不管是创新或是仿制感到自豪。
中国的高铁野心已经瞄向了全球。土木工程企业中国中铁股份有限公司(China Railway Group Ltd.)正在参与委内瑞拉的一个高铁项目。中国铁建股份有限公司(China Railway Construction Corp.)在参与建设土耳其国内连接安卡拉和伊斯坦布尔的一条高铁线路。中国铁道部说，中国企业正在竞购巴西的合同，还说俄罗斯、沙特阿拉伯和波兰都表示出了兴趣。拨出80亿美元用于构建高速列车网络的奥巴马政府说，它对中国企业的竞标持开放态度。美国运输部的一位发言人拒绝就与川崎的言论发表评论。
施瓦辛格的办公室拒绝就他对中国高铁的兴趣发表评论，但加州高铁局(California High-Speed Rail Authority)常务副主任巴克(Jeffrey Barker)说，该州接受生产商投标还有数年之遥，到招标的时候，“程序肯定会保证任何转移到美国的技术都是恰当转移的，符合所有知识产权法律”。
战后日本在50年代和60年代建设新干线，引领高速铁路之先。法国、德国和其他欧洲国家在80年代跟进。中国于90年代开始认真思考建设更快的铁路，目的是开发贫穷的内陆地区，但相关努力遭遇流产。
政府把目光投往国外。2004年，它签署协议从阿尔斯通和川崎重工购买列车。第一批运来的是已经组装完毕的列车，过后两家公司帮助中国在国内建起了生产工厂。它们为中国工程师提供培训，同时帮助中国建立自己的列车零部件供应链。西门子和庞巴迪后来也签署了类似的协议。西门子和川崎重工的高管都说它们很希望拿到合同，如果不跟中国做生意，恐怕竞争对手也会做。这些高管说，他们当时预计很多年内，或许是数十年之内，中国公司都不会构成竞争威胁。
川崎重工与中国铁道部2004年签署的协议价值800亿日圆，当时相当于7.6亿美元，其中包括将标志性意义的子弹头列车“疾风”的全部技术和知识转移给中国南车旗下的青岛四方机车车辆股份有限公司。四方机车将这种最高时速达155英里（约合250公里）的列车命名为“和谐号”，以呼应中国国家主席胡锦涛提出的一个政治口号。
川崎重工将九组疾风列车出口给中国，然后帮助在中国国内生产了另外51组疾风列车，部分零部件从日本进口。川崎重工把中国南车的数十名工程师带到日本接受培训，其中部分工程师后来参与了四方机车的建立，目前这家工厂每年生产约200组列车。在过后的几年里，中国要求川崎重工和其他公司提供更多技术，以便使其列车运行速度进一步提高。据前述川崎重工高管说，公司每签署一项协议，它都获得“数百万美元”的酬金。
与中国做生意是否划算，引起了一些高管的质疑。日本东海旅客铁道株式会社(Central Japan Railway Co.)董事长葛西敬之(Yoshiyuki Kasai)说，我们没有参与对华出口项目，条件对我们不利，他们希望免费转移全部技术，那样对我们是没有好处的。
中国南车和中国另一家主要列车生产商中国北方机车车辆工业集团公司(China North Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corp.)开始生产行驶速度更高的列车。2007年年底，在北京奥运会举办前夕，中国开通一条连接首都北京和港口城市天津的高速铁路线，最高时速为205英里（约合330公里）。去年又有一条线路开通，列车最高时速达217英里（约合350公里）。
一些人说，中国成为新的铁路大国有助于推动其他国家建设自己的铁路网络，对于行业来说是利大于弊。研究公司安可顾问(APCO Worldwide Inc.)铁路分析师王凯(Murray King)说，你至少得部分归功于中国。
Norihiko Shirouzu
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
When the Japanese and European companies that pioneered high-speed rail agreed to build trains for China, they thought they'd be getting access to a booming new market, billions of dollars' worth of contracts and the cachet of creating the most ambitious rapid rail system in history.
What they didn't count on was having to compete with Chinese firms at their own game just a few years later.
Today, Chinese rail companies that were once junior partners with the likes of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Siemens AG, Alstom SA and Bombardier Inc. are vying against them in the burgeoning global market for super-fast train systems. From the U.S. to Saudi Arabia to Brazil and in China itself, Chinese companies are selling trains that in most cases are faster than those offered by their foreign rivals. On a recent visit to China, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he is interested in Chinese help to build a planned high-speed line in his state.
The progression of China's rail business reflects a national economic strategy of boosting state-owned firms and obtaining advanced technology, even at the expense of foreign partners. It's an approach that is challenging the U.S. and other powers, and fueling a broader angst among multinational firms doing business here.
Industries such as autos and aerospace have long sought to tap China's vast market, entering into joint ventures that have brought them enormous reward. But by handing over their technology, some companies have opened the door for homegrown competitors to compete in the global marketplace. China's market share of manufacturing of advanced machinery could climb to 30% of global exports within the decade, from 8% today, said Min Zhu, special adviser for the International Monetary Fund and former deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, at Monday's Wall Street Journal CEO Council.
China acknowledges that the trains its own companies are now selling were developed using foreign technology. But officials say domestic companies like China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corp., or CSR, added their own innovations that make the final product Chinese. 'China's railway industry produced this new generation of high-speed train sets by learning and systematically compiling and re-innovating foreign high-speed train technology,' the Railways Ministry said in a faxed response to questions. Some foreign executives say that such 're-innovating,' if it involves selling the trains overseas, is a violation of China's agreements with them.
The future of China's rail industry is being assembled amid a flurry of welding sparks in a sprawling CSR manufacturing complex in the port city of Qingdao. Called the CRH380A, the newest train is equipped with first-class seats that fold completely flat and can go up to 236 miles per hour. When it goes into service in 2012 linking Beijing and Shanghai, the train will cut travel time to four hours from 10, and will be part of a network that is expected to extend 9,700 miles by 2020.
CSR obtained Japanese high-speed technology starting in 2004 as part of a deal with Kawasaki. CSR engineers and executives say they have adapted and improved that technology to make trains that are faster and better. The fastest trains now operating in Japan and Europe run about 199 mph.
Smiling proudly on the factory floor before half-assembled sections of the needle-nosed, blue-and-silver CRH380A trains, Liang Jianying, a senior CSR engineer, explains how the company reduced wheel-to-track friction and made the train more aerodynamic. 'We improved, optimized, and self-innovated . . . and came up with a brand new design,' she says.
'See, this is nothing like Kawasaki's bullet train,' chimes in Wu Qunliang, chief spokesman for the CSR factory. 'Real original innovation is rare,' adds Wang Xinhong, another senior engineer. 'We attained our achievements in high-speed train technology by standing on the shoulders of past pioneers.'
Foreign companies are generally reluctant to criticize the powerful Railways Ministry publicly. Bernd Eitel, a spokesman for Siemens, says the German company has 'a trusting relationship' with its Chinese partners and expects that to continue. Bombardier China President Zhang Jiawei said in a statement that 'we have contracts and agreements, and both sides respect' them. A spokeswoman for the French company Alstom declined to comment, citing the 'sensitive nature' of the subject.
But Kawasaki, in a statement, says it and other high-speed train producers disagree with China's claim that it has created its own technology. Most of its trains in operation today, say executives, are almost exactly the same as its foreign partners' trains. They cite a a few tweaks to the exterior paint scheme and interior trims and a beefed-up propulsion systems for faster speeds. 'China says she owns exclusive rights to that intellectual property, but Kawasaki and other foreign companies feel otherwise,' Kawasaki said in a statement, adding that it hopes to resolve the issue through commercial talks. Kawasaki says it is emphasizing in those negotiations that its technology-transfer contracts with the Railways Ministry state that the technology is for use exclusively within China, and that Chinese companies can't use it in products they intend to export.
Privately, some executives are more blunt. 'Claiming most of the recently developed bullet trains as China's own may be good for national pride . . . but it's nothing but deceitful propaganda,' says a senior executive at Kawasaki. 'How are you supposed to fight rivals when they have your technology, and their cost base is so much lower,' the executive adds.
Other countries have also used and adapted foreign technology. Post-war Japan pulled off its transformation in part by reverse-engineering foreign technologies, eventually developing a stable of tech companies, steel producers, shipbuilders and auto makers, including Honda and Toyota. South Korea followed a similar path.
What's unique about China is its vast domestic market, which makes foreign companies willing to hand over their technology know-how for a piece of the action. As China increasingly favors domestic suppliers, it's able to up the ante further, demanding that companies who want to do business transfer ever more advanced technologies. 'Any company bringing new technology, innovation or ideas to China has to deal with shanzhai, what one could readily refer to as 'bandit' culture,' says Andrew Forbes Winkler, an analyst with Commodore Research & Consultancy in New York. 'From cellphones to automobiles, Chinese companies have taken pride in using others' intellectual property and either innovating or counterfeiting goods.'
China's high-speed rail ambitions are already global. China Railway Group Ltd., a civil-engineering company, is participating in a high-speed rail project in Venezuela. China Railway Construction Corp. is helping build a high-speed line in Turkey linking Ankara and Istanbul. China's Railway ministry has said Chinese companies are bidding for contracts in Brazil, and that Russia, Saudi Arabia and Poland have expressed interest. The Obama administration, which has allotted $8 billion to build high-speed train networks, has said it is open to bids from Chinese companies. A U.S. Department of Transportation spokeswoman declined to comment on the dispute with Kawasaki.
Gov. Schwarzenegger's office declined to comment about his interest in Chinese trains, but Jeffrey Barker, a deputy executive director of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, said the state is years away from taking bids from manufacturers and that when it does, the 'process will certainly ensure that any technology transferred to the United States is done so properly, in accordance with all intellectual-property laws.'
High-speed rail was pioneered in post-war Japan in the 1950s and early 1960s with the construction of the Shinkansen. France, Germany and other European countries followed suit in the 1980s. Serious thinking about building faster rail in China began in the 1990s, with the aim of developing the poor hinterland. But efforts fizzled.
The government looked abroad. In 2004, it signed deals to buy trains from Alstom and Kawasaki, which shipped the first batch over fully assembled. Later, the companies helped set up production facilities within China. They trained Chinese engineers while helping the country develop its own supply chain for train components. Siemens and Bombardier later signed similar deals. Executives from Siemens and Kawasaki both say they were eager for contracts, and feared that if they didn't do deals with China, their competitors would. They say they didn't expect Chinese companies to be a competitive threat for many years, maybe decades.
Kawasaki's 2004 deal with the Railways Ministry, worth 80 billion yen, or about $760 million at the time, included transfer of the whole spectrum of technology and know-how for the iconic bullet train called Hayate, or 'fresh breeze,' to Qingdao Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co., a CSR unit. The Chinese company called the train, capable of speeds up to 155 mph, the Hexie Hao, or 'Harmony,' echoing a political slogan of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Kawasaki exported nine Hayate train sets to China. It then helped produce 51 additional Hayates in China, partly using components imported from Japan. Kawasaki took dozens of CSR engineers to Japan for training. Some later helped set up the Qingdao factory, which now churns out about 200 train sets a year. Over the ensuing years, China asked Kawasaki and others to provide additional technology to make its trains go even faster. Each time Kawasaki signed a deal, it gained 'several million dollars' as a fee, according to the senior Kawasaki executive.
Some executives questioned the wisdom of dealing with China. 'We didn't take part in the export project to China,' says Yoshiyuki Kasai, chairman of Central Japan Railway Co. 'The conditions were not favorable -- they wanted all the technology to be transferred for free. That was not good for us.'
CSR and the other main Chinese train maker, China North Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corp., began producing trains that operated at even higher speeds. In late 2007, ahead of the Beijing Olympics, China opened a high-speed rail line linking the capital and the port city of Tianjin. It operated at a top speed of 205 mph. Last year, another line started with trains running up to 217 mph.
Some say China's rise as a new train power brings more good to the industry than bad, helping to push others to build their own networks. Says Murray King, a rail analyst at research firm APCO Worldwide Inc.: 'You have to give at least partial credit to China.'
Norihiko Shirouzu
What they didn't count on was having to compete with Chinese firms at their own game just a few years later.
Today, Chinese rail companies that were once junior partners with the likes of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Siemens AG, Alstom SA and Bombardier Inc. are vying against them in the burgeoning global market for super-fast train systems. From the U.S. to Saudi Arabia to Brazil and in China itself, Chinese companies are selling trains that in most cases are faster than those offered by their foreign rivals. On a recent visit to China, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he is interested in Chinese help to build a planned high-speed line in his state.
The progression of China's rail business reflects a national economic strategy of boosting state-owned firms and obtaining advanced technology, even at the expense of foreign partners. It's an approach that is challenging the U.S. and other powers, and fueling a broader angst among multinational firms doing business here.
Industries such as autos and aerospace have long sought to tap China's vast market, entering into joint ventures that have brought them enormous reward. But by handing over their technology, some companies have opened the door for homegrown competitors to compete in the global marketplace. China's market share of manufacturing of advanced machinery could climb to 30% of global exports within the decade, from 8% today, said Min Zhu, special adviser for the International Monetary Fund and former deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, at Monday's Wall Street Journal CEO Council.
China acknowledges that the trains its own companies are now selling were developed using foreign technology. But officials say domestic companies like China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corp., or CSR, added their own innovations that make the final product Chinese. 'China's railway industry produced this new generation of high-speed train sets by learning and systematically compiling and re-innovating foreign high-speed train technology,' the Railways Ministry said in a faxed response to questions. Some foreign executives say that such 're-innovating,' if it involves selling the trains overseas, is a violation of China's agreements with them.
The future of China's rail industry is being assembled amid a flurry of welding sparks in a sprawling CSR manufacturing complex in the port city of Qingdao. Called the CRH380A, the newest train is equipped with first-class seats that fold completely flat and can go up to 236 miles per hour. When it goes into service in 2012 linking Beijing and Shanghai, the train will cut travel time to four hours from 10, and will be part of a network that is expected to extend 9,700 miles by 2020.
CSR obtained Japanese high-speed technology starting in 2004 as part of a deal with Kawasaki. CSR engineers and executives say they have adapted and improved that technology to make trains that are faster and better. The fastest trains now operating in Japan and Europe run about 199 mph.
Smiling proudly on the factory floor before half-assembled sections of the needle-nosed, blue-and-silver CRH380A trains, Liang Jianying, a senior CSR engineer, explains how the company reduced wheel-to-track friction and made the train more aerodynamic. 'We improved, optimized, and self-innovated . . . and came up with a brand new design,' she says.
'See, this is nothing like Kawasaki's bullet train,' chimes in Wu Qunliang, chief spokesman for the CSR factory. 'Real original innovation is rare,' adds Wang Xinhong, another senior engineer. 'We attained our achievements in high-speed train technology by standing on the shoulders of past pioneers.'
Foreign companies are generally reluctant to criticize the powerful Railways Ministry publicly. Bernd Eitel, a spokesman for Siemens, says the German company has 'a trusting relationship' with its Chinese partners and expects that to continue. Bombardier China President Zhang Jiawei said in a statement that 'we have contracts and agreements, and both sides respect' them. A spokeswoman for the French company Alstom declined to comment, citing the 'sensitive nature' of the subject.
But Kawasaki, in a statement, says it and other high-speed train producers disagree with China's claim that it has created its own technology. Most of its trains in operation today, say executives, are almost exactly the same as its foreign partners' trains. They cite a a few tweaks to the exterior paint scheme and interior trims and a beefed-up propulsion systems for faster speeds. 'China says she owns exclusive rights to that intellectual property, but Kawasaki and other foreign companies feel otherwise,' Kawasaki said in a statement, adding that it hopes to resolve the issue through commercial talks. Kawasaki says it is emphasizing in those negotiations that its technology-transfer contracts with the Railways Ministry state that the technology is for use exclusively within China, and that Chinese companies can't use it in products they intend to export.
Privately, some executives are more blunt. 'Claiming most of the recently developed bullet trains as China's own may be good for national pride . . . but it's nothing but deceitful propaganda,' says a senior executive at Kawasaki. 'How are you supposed to fight rivals when they have your technology, and their cost base is so much lower,' the executive adds.
Other countries have also used and adapted foreign technology. Post-war Japan pulled off its transformation in part by reverse-engineering foreign technologies, eventually developing a stable of tech companies, steel producers, shipbuilders and auto makers, including Honda and Toyota. South Korea followed a similar path.
What's unique about China is its vast domestic market, which makes foreign companies willing to hand over their technology know-how for a piece of the action. As China increasingly favors domestic suppliers, it's able to up the ante further, demanding that companies who want to do business transfer ever more advanced technologies. 'Any company bringing new technology, innovation or ideas to China has to deal with shanzhai, what one could readily refer to as 'bandit' culture,' says Andrew Forbes Winkler, an analyst with Commodore Research & Consultancy in New York. 'From cellphones to automobiles, Chinese companies have taken pride in using others' intellectual property and either innovating or counterfeiting goods.'
China's high-speed rail ambitions are already global. China Railway Group Ltd., a civil-engineering company, is participating in a high-speed rail project in Venezuela. China Railway Construction Corp. is helping build a high-speed line in Turkey linking Ankara and Istanbul. China's Railway ministry has said Chinese companies are bidding for contracts in Brazil, and that Russia, Saudi Arabia and Poland have expressed interest. The Obama administration, which has allotted $8 billion to build high-speed train networks, has said it is open to bids from Chinese companies. A U.S. Department of Transportation spokeswoman declined to comment on the dispute with Kawasaki.
Gov. Schwarzenegger's office declined to comment about his interest in Chinese trains, but Jeffrey Barker, a deputy executive director of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, said the state is years away from taking bids from manufacturers and that when it does, the 'process will certainly ensure that any technology transferred to the United States is done so properly, in accordance with all intellectual-property laws.'
High-speed rail was pioneered in post-war Japan in the 1950s and early 1960s with the construction of the Shinkansen. France, Germany and other European countries followed suit in the 1980s. Serious thinking about building faster rail in China began in the 1990s, with the aim of developing the poor hinterland. But efforts fizzled.
The government looked abroad. In 2004, it signed deals to buy trains from Alstom and Kawasaki, which shipped the first batch over fully assembled. Later, the companies helped set up production facilities within China. They trained Chinese engineers while helping the country develop its own supply chain for train components. Siemens and Bombardier later signed similar deals. Executives from Siemens and Kawasaki both say they were eager for contracts, and feared that if they didn't do deals with China, their competitors would. They say they didn't expect Chinese companies to be a competitive threat for many years, maybe decades.
Kawasaki's 2004 deal with the Railways Ministry, worth 80 billion yen, or about $760 million at the time, included transfer of the whole spectrum of technology and know-how for the iconic bullet train called Hayate, or 'fresh breeze,' to Qingdao Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co., a CSR unit. The Chinese company called the train, capable of speeds up to 155 mph, the Hexie Hao, or 'Harmony,' echoing a political slogan of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Kawasaki exported nine Hayate train sets to China. It then helped produce 51 additional Hayates in China, partly using components imported from Japan. Kawasaki took dozens of CSR engineers to Japan for training. Some later helped set up the Qingdao factory, which now churns out about 200 train sets a year. Over the ensuing years, China asked Kawasaki and others to provide additional technology to make its trains go even faster. Each time Kawasaki signed a deal, it gained 'several million dollars' as a fee, according to the senior Kawasaki executive.
Some executives questioned the wisdom of dealing with China. 'We didn't take part in the export project to China,' says Yoshiyuki Kasai, chairman of Central Japan Railway Co. 'The conditions were not favorable -- they wanted all the technology to be transferred for free. That was not good for us.'
CSR and the other main Chinese train maker, China North Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corp., began producing trains that operated at even higher speeds. In late 2007, ahead of the Beijing Olympics, China opened a high-speed rail line linking the capital and the port city of Tianjin. It operated at a top speed of 205 mph. Last year, another line started with trains running up to 217 mph.
Some say China's rise as a new train power brings more good to the industry than bad, helping to push others to build their own networks. Says Murray King, a rail analyst at research firm APCO Worldwide Inc.: 'You have to give at least partial credit to China.'
Norihiko Shirouzu
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