China's high-speed rail development ranks first in the world

As of the end of 2012, China's high-speed rail operating mileage, operating speed, construction scale, and development speed are all ranked first in the world.

In 1964, the Japanese Shinkansen opened to traffic at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour and became the originator of the world's high-speed rail. In 2011, Japan’s fastest Shinkansen train, the “Chang”, was put into operation, with a maximum speed of 320 kilometers per hour, which lasted for nearly 50 years.

In 2004, China began to introduce high-speed train technology with a speed of 200 kilometers per hour. At the end of 2008, the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway, the first high-speed railway with independent intellectual property rights, was operating at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour. In 2010, the CRH380A, with a speed of 380 kilometers per hour, went offline. In 6 years, China has passed the high-speed railways of the developed countries for nearly 50 years.

As of the end of December 2012, the mileage of high-speed railways with speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour in China has approached 13,000 kilometers. The operating mileage, operating speed, construction scale, and development speed all rank first in the world.