Railway company eyes cooperation in more domestic, foreign projects

BEIJING - China's largest train manufacturer CSR Corp said on Monday that it expects its net profit to have increased by more than 50 percent in 2010, thanks to the country's fast development of high-speed railways.

In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, CSR said its business continued its good growth last year and it expects its profit rose more than 50 percent from the 1.68 billion yuan ($254 million) in 2009.

Passengers prepare to board an intercity high-speed train in Shanghai, which connects to Hangzhou in Zhejiang province. China hopes to expand its high-speed railway industry by exploring overseas markets. [Photo/Agencies]

Since China rolled out the first high-speed railway between Beijing and Tianjin in 2008, the nation's high-speed rail network has topped the world in both speed and distance covered.

The nation's latest fast train, the CRH380A, built by CSR, set a world record on Dec 3 by hitting 486.1 kilometers an hour during a trial run on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway. China is operating the world's longest high-speed rail network, a combined length of 7,531 kilometers, which will reach 13,000 kilometers by 2012.

CSR, now the world's third-largest high-speed train producer, just behind Bombardier and Alstom, is aiming to become number one in the sector, Zheng Changhong, president of CSR, said earlier.

"The next five years will be a peak period in terms of railway construction in China, with annual investment touching 700 billion yuan," he said.

Looking not only at the domestic market, CSR is also aiming to tap more overseas opportunities. In 2009, it earned $1.24 billion in overseas sales.

"CSR's overseas business accounted for only 10 percent of the company's total revenue, and we will raise the proportion to 20 percent," Zhao Xiaogang, chairman of CSR, told Xinhua News Agency.

The South China Morning Post said on Jan 19 that CSR and CNR, China's second-largest train maker, are in the final negotiations for four deals worth $800 million with UK companies.

The contracts would be the first for Chinese train producers to tap the Western European market, the report said.

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CSR signed an agreement with General Electric in December 2010 to establish a 50-50 joint venture to manufacture high-speed trains in the United States, using China's technology, and to jointly explore the US high-speed railway market.

When President Hu Jintao visited the United States, CSR signed letters of intent for ventures with GE. The deals could bring in $1.4 billion and add 2,000 jobs in the US, including an order for 500 exported locomotive kits and related services valued at $350 million, GE Transportation Chief Executive Officer Lorenzo Simonelli said on Jan 19.

California is to build a 1,100-kilometer high-speed rail system and China would like to be involved, but it faces competition from Japan, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium and South Korea, local media reported.

"Although China's high-speed railway technology has been transferred to overseas markets, it's mainly focused on developing economies, including India, Malaysia, and Turkey," said a CSR insider who wished to remain anonymous.

"The cooperation with GE can be the pioneering venture in North American markets, and can also serve as the model for exploring European nations," he said.