Nation on track for bigger rail role

China will continue to increase its market share in the traditional railway manufacturing sector by pushing more low-cost, high-speed trains, subway trains and related infrastructure into global markets, experts said on Sept 25.

Their comments came after French train maker Alstom Group and German engineering group Siemens AG said on Sept 22 that they were in talks about linking their rail activities as European companies struggle to cope with competition from China.

Rail mergers have become a trend over the past few years, as producers seek to contain costs in an effort to compete with China Railway Rolling Stock Corp, the country's railway vehicle manufacturer.

The French government said it approved a link between the rail businesses, which have combined sales of nearly 15 billion euros ($17.8 billion; ￡13 billion), as long as jobs were not affected.

The French government took control of a 20 percent voting stake in Alstom as part of a 2014 deal that saw the group sell its energy division to General Electric, snubbing Siemens at the time.

Feng Hao, a railway development researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission, says China is eager to compete with established global rivals and has been deploying more resources into its rail vehicle manufacturing sector as a part of its Made in China 2025 strategy to stimulate high-end product exports.

CRRC plans to establish 11 regional branches globally by 2020 and further target key markets including Europe, North America, Russia and Central Asian countries.

CRRC has so far promoted a number of products in the domestic and global markets. These include high-speed trains that can run at 350 kilometers per hour, middle-to-low speed magnetic levitation shuttles, high-speed commuter trains running at a maximum speed of 140 km/h, piggyback wagons, hydrogen-powered tramcars and oil-electricity hybrid locomotives.

Alstom and Siemens confirmed talks were underway after the close of trading in European markets on Sept 22. "It is not something unusual to see certain Western industrial giants reorganize their business with each other, especially under the current global business setting," says Zhao Ying, a researcher at the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

Reuters contributed to this story.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 09/29/2017 page27)