[grey]

http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/03/15/china-to-connect-its-high-speed-rail-all-the-way-to-europe/

China already has the most advanced and extensive high speed rail line in the world, and soon that network will be connected all the way to Europe and the UK! With initial negotiations and surveys already complete, China is now making plans to connect its high speed rail line through 17 other countries in Asia and Eastern Europe in order to connect to the existing infrastructure in the EU. Additional rail lines will also be built into South East Asia as well as Russia, in what will likely become the largest infrastructure project in history.

 

[Ervin]

Smart move on behalf of China IMO. It's a very global country, and this will ensure that.

 

[wyliepoon]

China has ambitious plans to build some kind of fixed link (either a tunnel or a series of bridges) across the 180-km wide Taiwan Strait to Taiwan. No doubt this is politically motivated as China recognizes Taiwan only as one of its provinces. An even more ambitious proposal calls for a tunnel to connect China with South Korea under the Yellow Sea. If the tunnel linking Korea to Japan ever gets built, China would get a fixed link to Japan via South Korea, bypassing North Korea.

The biggest competitor to the 'London-Beijing HSR' is undoubtedly the Trans-Siberian Railway through Russia. The Trans-Siberian is already starting to see business in transporting cargo between China/Japan and Europe.