China is aiming this year to break the world rail speed record which is currently held by the French with a 356 mph run in 2007.

A Chinese high-speed train has already reached 301 mph on the new Beijing-Shanghai main line which will be completed this year.

The Chinese are also expanding internationally, with plans to build a 125 mph line from China to Singapore, through Laos, Thailand and Malaysia and a separate line from Kunming to Rangoon in Burma.

Yet another line is planned from China, through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan to Iran.

Currently there are 15,000 miles of high-speed rail throughout the world, with China leading at 4,679 miles, said Railways Minister Liu Zhijun.

The Japanese were first on the scene in 1964 with the Tokyo-Tokaido bullet train, followed in 1981 by the French with Paris-Lyon.

China’s first high-speed line was as recent as 2008 but by 2020, it plans to have 10,000 miles of high-speed line.

By contrast, in backward Britain protesters staged a protest meeting in Warwickshire today (19 February 2011) against plans for a high-speed rail line from London to Birmingham.

Information from China Daily.