Train Makers Rail Against China's High-Speed Designs

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Train Makers Rail Against China's High-Speed Designs

Asia Technology
November 17, 2010
By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU

QINGDAO, China—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 who adapted their technology and turned it against them 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.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704814204575507353221141616.html#ixzz15eiICgDg

[Ginto]

1. The Chinese stealing technology?! This can't be true. nt

[maxsolomon]

2. they should have counted on it

every clothing designer on the planet counts on it.

[Brickbat]

3. I shoulda gone into business consulting.

Because, you know, *I* could have seen this coming.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

4. Corporations are selling their futures away for any access they can get to Chinese markets.

Airliners and cars are next.

[David__77]

5. China will do it cheaper and better.

That's a truism.

[Dreamer Tatum]

6. Yeah, their buildings collapse faster and more completely than any American building.

Good grief.

[Vinnie From Indy]

7. Doooooh!

Our greedy capitalists seem to be pigeons for their greedy capitalists.