Train Makers Rail Against China's High-Speed Designs (WSJ)

[somone]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704814204575507353221141616.html

NOVEMBER 17, 2010
Train Makers Rail Against China's High-Speed Designs
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.

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.

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. added their own innovations that make the final product Chinese... But Kawasaki 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 are almost exactly the same as its foreign partners' trains. They cite 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... "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...

[liberal N proud]

1. Industrial espionage is a huge risk in China

Our company has to be very careful when providing documents to the plant we have so they do not leave the facility.

[madrchsod]

3. i worked for a manufacturer that sold two of our machines to china.

while i was doing my operation i thought the chinese are going to copy this machine. this was in 2003.i never did find out if they did but i have a feeling they did.

we made the gold standard of this particular type of machine.

[madrchsod]

2. china could`t make shit until the west decided to show them how...

now the chinese are undercutting the world`s markets with cheap labor goods. greed has burned the western corporations.