Foreign diplomats impressed by China's high-speed rail network

The rail transit industry has become one of the distinctive hallmarks of China's opening up characterized by mutual benefit and win-win results, diplomats said and expressed willingness to hitch a ride on the express train of China's development.

Representatives of diplomatic missions from nearly 80 countries and international organizations on Monday visited CRRC Tangshan, one of China's major high-speed train manufacturers, in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province. They had a discussion with Chinese officials and also toured a digital production line of high-end rail equipment.

"I am really amazed at how China has developed the high-speed railway system so fast in so few years," said Jose Diaz, the chargé d'affaires at the Colombian embassy in China.

China's high-speed railway has undergone a process from acquisition, adoption and re-innovation to independent innovation and now China has built a world-leading high-speed railway system with independent intellectual property.

As rail transit is an important infrastructure for economic and social development, Diaz said China's advance in railway development represents "a very significant opportunity" for the rest of the world to keep up the pace of development, especially for developing ones.

CRRC is the world's largest supplier of rail transit equipment with the most complete product lines, and its products serve over 100 countries and regions around the world.

Gassim A G Gishlan, minister of the embassy of Saudi Arabia in China, said CRRC products have served and benefited local areas.

Taking the Mecca Hajj Light Railway as an example, he said the benchmark project was a vivid embodiment of win-win cooperation.

According to CRRC, Saudi Arabia's Mecca Hajj Light Railway operates continuously for seven days and six nights during the annual Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. And CRRC team makes efforts to ensure this continuous operation for over 50,000 km in an ambient temperature of up to 50 degrees Celsius.

"It's expected that more cooperation will take place between our two countries to create more connectivity," Gishlan added.

"It is a great opportunity for me to see firsthand the great achievements China has scored which makes me envision a better future for our country," Nicaraguan Ambassador to China Michael Campbell said.

The ambassador said Nicaragua yearned for infrastructure but doesn't have a railway network right now, expressing his nations' willingness to collaborate with China on infrastructure building.

It's very important to learn about the products CRRC offers, to learn from its construction and operation management experience and its value of commitment to excellence, he said.

"We are sure that partnering with the companies like CRRC is a good way to move forward," he added.

Sun Yongcai, who is the board chairman of CRRC, told foreign guests the enterprise is committed to providing safe, efficient, green, intelligent and people-centered rail transit products and services to the world.

"What I see is more than what I expected and I feel the vitality of Chinese economy during the visit," Honduran Ambassador to China Salvador Moncada said.

China established diplomatic relations with Honduras in March last year. "We are starting all our contacts in different areas with China," Moncada said, adding he hoped to see cooperation on transportation between the two countries in the near future.