China has made great progress in overseas rail projects, says senior official

A number of China's overseas railway projects have made significant progress lately, said Yang Zhongmin, chairman of China Railway International, during a press briefing on Tuesday.

Yang's statement came after questions were raised by some media outlets about whether China's overseas high-speed railway projects have stalled. Yang refuted that supposition, saying at the briefing that China is responsible for the world's largest high-speed rail operation and construction networks, as well as the most comprehensive high-speed rail technology and management experiences.

Yang said that China's high-speed rail system has four advantages. First, China owns the intellectual property rights to its high-speed rail technology, which is the most advanced in the world. Second, China's high-speed rail operations include a risk management system for disaster prevention and emergency rescue and relief. Third, China's high-speed rail technology is highly compatible with that of other countries. And fourth, China's high-speed rail boasts a high performance-cost ratio.

Yang said that China is on its way to building railways in Asia, Europe, North America and Africa. Those projects include the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail in Indonesia, the Moscow-Kazan high-speed rail in Russia, and the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed rail between Serbia and Hungary.