China's high-speed rail to impact global transportation

China is on its way to completing a US$735.6 billion high-speed rail (HSR) expansion project consisting of almost 19,000 miles of new railways. The Asia powerhouse is also in negotiations with 17 nations for the massive project, which would effectively link the Central, East and Southeast Asia to Europe. China hopes to complete this massive infrastructure project within 10 years, which will include three major rail lines running at speeds of 320 km/hour. Financing for the infrastructure will be provided by China and in return China is asking partnering nations to provide her with natural resources.

China is poised to benefit as it will be able to transport materials cheaply into manufacturing centers inside its borders. Considering China has already become the global leader in HSR, their leadership in this new venture could reasonably shift the balance of power in their direction. Presumably, all the countries connected to the network would benefit from better transportation options and increased mobility. The countries which perhaps will be losing out would be those across the ocean who are more reliant on international air travel.