VZCZCXRO5656
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #0016 0062336
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 062336Z JAN 08
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6786
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
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UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000016 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, INR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELTN PINR SOCI CH
SUBJECT: Guangdong Province Planning Seven High-Speed Rail Lines 
(C-TN7-01732) 
 
Ref: 07 STATE 155725 
 
(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Guangdong Province plans to build seven new 
high-speed rail lines; three are already under construction.  All of 
the projects are government funded, although private companies can 
bid on construction contracts.  One official speculated that 
manufacturing and real estate industries would gain the most from 
high-speed rail development, with manufacturing benefiting from 
accelerated delivery of raw materials and shipment of finished 
products made in Guangdong   Guangdong officials believe the 
proposed projects will make the province's infrastructure status, 
considered somewhat backward, commensurate with its economic 
development.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The first of seven planned high-speed rail lines in 
Guangdong Province will come on line in 2010, according to Lin 
Heming, Vice Director of the Transportation Division of the 
Guangdong Development and Reform Commission.  Each of the seven 
lines will carry passengers and freight and have maximum speeds that 
exceed 200 kilometers per hour (the official Chinese threshold for 
high-speed rails).  Lin said that the rails will be further upgraded 
after completion for even higher speeds.  Although the line 
connecting Guangzhou with Hong Kong is sometimes referred to as a 
high-speed rail, Lin explained that it does not meet the technical 
definition. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The three lines already under construction are the 
Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Rail, Wuhan-Guangzhou Rail, and 
Guangzhou-Zhuhai Rail.  Each is scheduled for completion in 2010. 
The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Rail and Wuhan-Guangzhou Rail will 
eventually provide service through to Beijing.  Two cross-province 
rails -- the Xiamen-Shenzhen Rail, connecting Fujian and Guangdong 
Provinces, and the Guangzhou-Guiyang Rail, connecting Guangdong and 
Guizhou Provinces -- have been approved by the National Development 
and Reform Commission (NDRC), and construction is scheduled to begin 
soon.  In addition, the Nanning-Guangzhou Rail, connecting Guangxi 
and Guangdong Province, and the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang Rail to 
southwest Guangdong Province are in the planning stages. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Lin emphasized that all rail projects must be approved by 
the Chinese central government and are fully funded by the 
government.  For each new rail project, the Ministry of Railways and 
provincial governments join to finance a state enterprise to 
construct and operate the line.  Foreign and other private companies 
may be invited to bid on construction projects but do not have an 
opportunity to invest in the enterprise.  Lin told us that private 
enterprises are not interested in infrastructure development because 
the returns are too low. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Guangdong has historically lagged behind many other 
provinces in railway development, Lin said.  However, the provincial 
government believes that the projects on the drawing board will 
raise local railway infrastructure to a level more commensurate with 
its advanced economic development.  Lin speculated that 
manufacturing and real estate industries would gain the most from 
high-speed rail development.  Manufacturing, he said, would benefit 
from accelerated delivery of raw materials and shipment of finished 
products made in Guangdong.  He also attributed the booming real 
estate market in Zhuhai to the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Rail, which is not 
even operational yet.  In addition, Lin noted that the 
Xiamen-Shenzhen Rail would enhance economic cooperation between 
Guangdong and the Yangtze River Delta and explained that the 
electric high-speed rail system would be more environmentally sound 
than existing rail lines. 
 
GOLDBERG