'Great inventions of the modern age' grip expats in China

Some foreign passengers proudly show off their high-speed railway tickets during a CRH train ride to Beijing from Tianjin. [Photo by Cheng Zi / For China Daily]

4. High-speed rail

The days when China's exports mainly depended on the sale of jeans and toys are long gone. China's export-oriented economy now has a new name card: high speed railway technology.

China's drive to spread high-speed rail culture creates opportunities for many parties.

Although the number of travelers in China is much higher than those in many countries, domestic and foreign airlines can't be complacent as high-speed railways continue to expand.

With train speeds increasing all the time, the gap between journey time by air and by rail is narrowing.

China is also working on next-generation bullet trains with a maximum speed of 400 km per hour. They will be ready by 2020 for markets linked to the Belt and Road Initiative.

China has so far participated in more than 10 high-speed and regular railway projects in global markets, including the high-speed railroad linking Ankara and Istanbul in Turkey, the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway in Russia, the China-Thailand railway and the Hungary-Serbia railway.