Importing Success or Failure?

Introduction

Even though China has the second largest economy and the largest population in the world, they still have to import materials and knowledge to build their high speed railroad. Of all its industries and structural improvements, the Chinese government spends and invests the most money into the high speed railroad. Without the correct resources, technology, or knowledge, the Chinese must import materials from countries such as Canada, Germany, Sweden, France, and Japan to help them build the high speed railroad. 

Importing

Since the Chinese have never built a high speed railroad or have any previous knowledge about how to build one from the ground up, they contract with foreign suppliers to help them build their high speed railroad. The main items that they import are signaling system parts, track and supports, and control systems. China does in fact manufacture some of their own domestic supplies that are used for the high speed railroad, but the designs of these items were bought or stolen from other countries with (not as fast) high speed rail ways. With a current budget of $110 billion and plans to continually infuse money into the high speed rail, there are not many monetary restrictions for attaining materials and supplies for the high speed railway. 

Technology Transfer

Not only does China import materials, they also “technology transfer”. Technology  transferring means that a company will make a deal to give the design of their product or knowledge of their product for a price to be paid by the Chinese government. For example, Mitusbishi sold the design of their MT205 traction motor and ATM9 transformer to the Chinese government to be used in the building and development of their high speed rail. 

Technology transfer can build great relationships between multiple companies or foreign governments, it is a great way to share resources and knowledge. However, there are also many unfortunate disadvantages to technology transfer. 

Technology transfer opens up many doors for trade and partnerships across foreign countries. Trust is a very important factor that is involved with technology transfer. A company or government must trust the company they are receiving the designs or ideas from that they are not faulty or incorrect. The trust leads to lasting partnerships. In China, where Chinese businesses are strict with the companies that they do business with, it is very important to establish trusting relationships to further foreign trade, business, and potential investing opportunities. 

Unethical behavior comes with the territory of technology transfer. Hiding details, giving wrong information, or not being completely honest are risks that companies or governments must face when agreeing to technology transfer. The Chinese government claims that this is what caused the Wenzhou crash that killed 40 people and injured over 200 people. 

Crash at Wenzhou

The expansion and building of the Chinese high speed railway is so fast, that many foreign companies do not trust the model designed by the Chinese. They fear that the high speed railway was built too quickly, with not enough thought. Hitachi, a Japanese technology company that imports and technology transfers safety signal control products to the Chinese government for the high speed railway is one of the companies that feels this way. They sold their signal control technology to the Chinese but did not make it easy to use or understand. They were fearful that other companies would steal their technology to use for their own products. During testing, it was difficult to run and specifications were incorrect. This should have been a red flag to the Chinese government to change, but their expansion was so fast, they did not take the time to potentially save lives. 

The Chinese government claims that it was the failure of the safety signals that caused the crash at Wenzhou, in essence, blaming technology transfer. Whether or not this was the reason that caused the Wenzhou crash, it goes to show that putting people’s lives in danger out of fear of competition is no way to gain partnerships or more contracts. 

Conclusion

The Chinese high speed railway could not be the success it is today in transporting people quickly and efficiently if it were not for importing and technology transfer. However, like any major expansion, the Chinese government and companies involved should be aware of the pros and cons associated with using foreign products, technology, and intelligence. 

By: Brenna Bourie

Lots of Glitches

The high speed rail that China has developed and is now using in their country is going to revolutionize travel there and ultimately in the future all over the world. Although they are putting lives at risk just to be the first to get it out there.

Last year there was a crash between two trains on the tracks that led to 40 people being killed. The officials said that it was because of a lightening strike that caused a technical malfunction. Upon further investigation they found out almost 170 glitches in the trains with about 100 of them coming from how they were manufactured. This caused over 50 trains to be recalled.

This is going to surely lead to some skepticism for the future on whether or not China’s plans are really ethical. There will be questions of whether or not they want to do this to help their country grow or if they just want to be the first ones to do something with no thoughts about the actual quality.

Just about a month ago, after fixing the areas on the track that were supposedly causing some of the problems and were going to open in May have just collapsed. Clearly hoping that it would all just go away after they made some quick fixes it has once again backfired in China’s face with another major error. If I were in China and even debating whether or not to ride and the massive crash hadn’t convinced me this sure would. The safety is just not there and they clearly don’t care enough to fix that. They are continuing to dig themselves a hole and killing their reputation. It’s a nice idea to create a train that goes as fast as it does but going that fast is extremely unsafe and no doubt that kind of speed and force on tracks will overtime wear it out. You need to create an extremely stable base and continue to do lots of maintenance.

China was accused of stealing the model of their trains from companies like Kawasaki and Siemens AG. They had once been partners and had given their trains to China. China took the technology from those trains and learned how to make them and they can make them much cheaper. They made their own trains, which looked very similar to Kawasaki, and Siemens AG’s trains with only a few cosmetic changes. China denied these accusations saying that they were different and were faster.

Clearly they did not take enough time to learn how to properly make these trains and everything that went into their design. They also must have used too cheap of materials which could have been one of their big flaws.

This was very frowned upon by a lot of people when they saw that China did this. You do not become partners with someone and then steal their ideas that they came up with and call it your own. This all just seems like too much with stealing ideas, creating the same product but with obvious flaws, a devastating crash, and then more flaws in the tracks. This is not the way to build a good reputation and a solid foundation for a strong flourishing country on the rise.

The Minister of the Railway Liu Zhijun reported took over 150 million in brides for the project. This is definitely the perfect evidence to explain all the problems about the rail. Zhijun was probably bribed to get the train up and running faster than it should have been and there would’ve needed to be some shortcuts taken in order for that to be done. The shortcuts would lead to some safety hazards that eventually come back to bite Zhijun.

Putting it all together it makes sense why all the problems with the trains have come about but in the end it was not worth the rush. It cost people their lives and if Zhijun is still running the show there would be likely more to come sadly. Someone needs to take over that position and shut the whole project down for a while and take the time to create the safety measures that need to be taken and then it will work.

By: Brendan Lemp

Are They Speeding Up or Slowing Down? – The Future of the Chinese Rail System

 

By: Brendan Simonson

     The Chinese high speed rail system is one of the most vast and quickly expanding projects the country has taken on, and they have taken it on full force holding nothing back. With major cities within the Chinese boarders being hundreds of miles apart it is essential to the Chinese economy that a relation can be held between these cities and they are easy to get to one another. The high speed rail system in China has certainly done so.

     However, can this quick moving expansion and investment in the high speed rail system be kept up or will it be left behind? What exactly does the future hold for China’s high speed rail system?

      It is quite simple actually. China has no excuse or reason to stop this expansion.

     China will continue developing its high speed rail network in the face of rising public demand for travelling efficiency and for future economic development. China simply must keep the expansion and construction going on their country’s already thriving achievements in the field. Economic growth can be directly rooted in the continued expansion of high speed rail ways for China.

      China has implemented a few plans that is steering their blueprint for railway expansion and continued development which include some of the following:

·         Placing speed limitations on bullet trains for safety purposes following a fatal crash in east China that killed 40 people last July

·         The implementing of ATO, or Automatic Train Operation

·         To continue the progress already achieved at such a quick pace and provide consumers with a safe and enjoyable experience

      With China being one of the fastest growing economies to date the expansion and continued development of the high speed rail system is crucial to economic opportunity and improvement. This ambitious rail building and expansion is helping to integrate the economy of a sprawling and populous nation.

      Every situation no matter what has its pros and its cons. The Chinese high speed rail system is no different. There are numerous benefits that come out of it and that will continue to come out of it as the future of the Chinese rail system looks bright and promising. Yet like everything else there are negative draw backs and the Chinese high speed train system certainly has some issues and is looking like it will have some issues in the future of this growing industry.

      One of these lurking cons hanging over the Chinese high speed rail system is that the Minister or Railways, who is in charge of overseeing the whole industry and operations, recently asked the central government for an $800 billion Yuan ($126 billion dollar) bailout plan. Some compare this situation to that of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were the two US financial institutions in need of government bailout and assistance. This comparison simply reminds us of the severity of the Minister of Railways debt crisis he is facing going into the future. However, the US financial institutions focus on finance while the government led railway construction belongs to the real economy of China.

 Exporting Near Perfection

      This is exactly what the Chinese government and Minister or Railways see as one of the biggest, if not the biggest, contribution the railway will lend to China in the coming future. China believes the pace they set should be continued because as they continue to develop and enhance their products in the railway and high speed train industry the goal is to export their technology and materials to other countries interested in installing high speed rails within their own boarders.   

      By continuing what the Chinese people have almost perfected, the future of Chinese high speed rails lies in exporting their product. With exporting their product, the Chinese government and Minister of Railways led project can be a way to pay off the deficit they have surmounted from installing and putting in full affect the use of high speed rails in China.

      While no one exactly know what lies ahead in the future, this certainly holds true for the high speed rail system in China. Some predict it will slow and cause various other problems for the Chinese government, yet they are the precise individuals who see the benefits vast and see the payoffs right within their reach in the very near future.  

Simulator Perfection

 

The Future is Always be Pushed, Even by a Computer      

 

Is This the Future? Why Stop - It Only Slows you Down.