Journalists take a high-speed ride

China's high-speed railway network is on track to realizing the goal of extending 38,000 kilometers by 2025, a China State Railway Group senior engineer told visiting journalists on Monday.

Huo Baoshi, director of the company's science and technology department, said the length of the network exceeded 29,000 km by the end of last year, accounting for more than 66.3 percent of the world's high-speed track.

China is also home to the longest high-speed railway lines under construction, he said on Monday.

"The future of high-speed railways in China and in the rest of the world is promising," said Huo, also chairman of the International Union of Railways' intercity and high-speed committee.

He said the rapid development of China's high-speed railway network was changing the way people travel.

Last year, the number of passengers carried by electrical multiple-unit trains reached 9.6 billion, with the share of total rail passengers carried by such trains increasing from 4.5 percent in 2007 to 62.5 percent.

Huo talked with more than 70 journalists from China and overseas on Monday, including some 60 reporters from over 50 countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Judit Doros, a journalist from Hungarian newspaper People's Words, traveled on a high-speed train from Beijing to Tianjin on Sunday. She said she had never ridden on such a train before and was surprised at how quiet and fast it was.

"This kind of transportation can also protect our environment, as it uses bridges and occupies less land," she said.

The media delegation, organized by the news center of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, visited Tianjin Natural History Museum, formerly known as Beijiang Museum and one of the first museums in China, on Sunday.

It also visited Sublue Underwater AI, the first domestic high-tech private enterprise to specialize in undersea intelligent equipment and swimming aid facilities.

Pedro Tadeu, a journalist from Portugal, said he was impressed by the rapid development of China's science and technology.

He said Portugal, a country that has also heavily invested in marine technology, could enhance communications in that field with China.