China is "more than 90 percent certain" to adopt Japan's bullet-train technology to build a new multi-billion dollar high-speed rail line between Beijing and Shanghai, state press reported yesterday.
Although Transrapid International, a consortium comprising German industrial engineers ThyssenKrupp AG and Siemens AG, has not yet given up hope that China would adopt its magnetic levitation or Maglev train, its prospects look dim, the Economic Observer said, citing the Ministry of Railways.
Earlier this month, German media reported that China was unlikely to proceed with its plan to build the 1,300km line based on the German space-age technology.
A senior member of the Siemens' management team said that it had received "clear signals that the decision will be taken in favor of the traditional train technology."
Hopes had been high after Shanghai installed the 430km per hour Maglev for commercial use on a line between the city's Pudong airport and downtown.
Following its successful test run earlier this year, former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji (朱隆基) said China would build a second "maglev" line from Shanghai to the eastern city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province.
It was expected that Beijing-Shanghai may follow suit.
However, competition has been fierce, with France's TGV and Japan's Shinkansen bullet train vying for a contract worth an estimated US$12 billion as well as other proposals to connect major cities in China by high-speed rail.
Japan's Transport Minister Chikage Ogi said last week she wants to visit China to promote Japan's bullet train.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
Call it an antidote to fast fashion: Japanese jeans hand-dyed with natural indigo and weaved on a clackety vintage loom, then sold at a premium to global denim connoisseurs. Unlike their mass-produced cousins, the tough garments crafted at the small Momotaro Jeans factory in southwest Japan are designed to be worn for decades, and come with a lifetime repair warranty. On site, Yoshiharu Okamoto gently dips cotton strings into a tub of deep blue liquid, which stains his hands and nails as he repeats the process. The cotton is imported from Zimbabwe, but the natural indigo they use is harvested in Japan —
RSS