【Imagineoneday，gettingoutofbedinBeijingandbeingatyourofficeinShanghaiinonlyacoupleofhours，andthen，afterafulldayofwork，goingbackhometoBeijingandhavingdinnerthere．Soundsunusual，doesn'tit?But】

Imagineoneday，gettingoutofbedinBeijingandbeingatyourofficeinShanghaiinonlyacoupleofhours，andthen，afterafulldayofwork，goingbackhometoBeijingandhavingdinnerthere．

Soundsunusual，doesn'tit?Butit'snotthatunrealistic，withthedevelopmentofChina’shigh—speedrailwaysystem．Andthat’snotall．Chinahasanevengreaterhigh—speedrailwayplan—toconnectthecountrywithSoutheastAsia，andeventuallyEasternEurope．

Chinaisnegotiatingtoextenditsownhigh·-speedrailwaynetworktoupto17countriesin10to15years，eventuallyreachingLondonandSingapore．

Chinahasproposedthreesuchprojects．ThefirstwouldpossiblyconnectKunmingwithSingaporeviaVietnamandMalaysia．AnothercouldstartinUrumqiandgothroughKazakhstanandUzbekistan，andpossiblytoGermany．ThethirdwouldstartinthenortheastandgonorththroughRussiaandthenintoWesternEurope．

IfChina’splanforthehigh-speedrailwaygoesforward，peoplecouldzipoverfromLondontoBeijinginundertwodays．

ThenewsystemwouldstillfollowChina’shigh—speedrailwaystandard．Andthetrainswouldbeabletogo346kilometersanhour，almostasfastassomeairplanes．

China’sbullettrain（高速客车），theoneconnectingWuhantoGuangzhou，alreadyhastheWorld’sfastestaveragespeed．Itcovers1069kilometersinaboutthreehours．

Ofcourse，therearesometechnicalchallengestoovercome．Therearesomanyissuesthatneedtobesettled，suchassafety，railgauge（轨距），maintenanceofrailwaytracks．So，it’simportanttopayattentiontoeverydetail．

Butthekeyissueisreallymoney．Chinaisalreadyspendinghundredsofbillionsofyuanondomesticrailwayexpansion．

Chinaprefersthattheothercountriespayinnaturalresourcesratherthanwithcapitalinvestment．ResourcesfromthosecountriescouldstreamintoChinatosustaindevelopment．

It’11beawin-winproject．Forothercountries，therailwaynetworkwilldefinitelycreatemoreopportunitiesforbusiness，tourismandsoon，nottomentionthebettercommunicationamongthosecountries．

ForChina，suchaprojectwouldnotonlyconnectitwiththerestofAsiaandbringsomemuch-neededresources，butwouldalsohelpdevelopC