Preface
In 2014, Chinese high-speed rail companies experienced a "roller coaster" of ups and downs in Mexico.
In November of this year, China Railway Construction Consortium won the bid for the "Moke High-speed Railway" project from Mexico Mexico to Querétaro with a contract value of nearly US$4 billion, relying on its technical advantages in the field of high-speed rail and excellent cost performance.
The 210-kilometer-long high-speed railway is an important milestone in China's high-speed rail "going global" and one of the largest and most expensive infrastructure projects in the Pan-American region.
However, just three days after the contract was signed, the Mexico government suddenly announced the cancellation of the project and one-sidedly tore up the contract.
This sudden decision shocked the entire industry, but what is even more surprising is that in the face of China's huge investment of nearly 10 billion US dollars, the Mexican side only hastily settled the matter with a mere 8.1 million yuan in compensation.
What is the secret behind this suspended project? Is this high-speed rail built today?
"Ink" forgets its original intention: the Waterloo of the Mexico project
On August 15, 2014, after the official launch of the bidding for the Moke high-speed railway, it attracted the attention of many foreign companies, including Siemens in Germany, Mitsubishi in Japan, Alstom in France, etc.
However, the Mexico government has put forward a very demanding requirement, that is, the high-speed railway began to be built in 2014 and must be put into use in 2017, which undoubtedly greatly increases the difficulty of the project, so most companies have chosen to withdraw.
However, the Chinese have always risen to the challenge, and this high-speed railway is of great significance, and it plays a vital role in the future of China's railways to the world.
Therefore, despite the demanding requirements of the Mexico government, CRCC still firmly participated in the tender and finally won the bid.
After the results of the winning bid were transmitted back to China, the industry cheered, as if they had seen a bright future for China's high-speed railway, but surprisingly, on the third day after the results were finalized, the Mexico government actually said that the last tender result was invalid and that it would reopen the tender.
The reason they gave was that there was only one company participating in the bidding for the high-speed rail project; The processing time of the bidding process was inadequate.
The Mexico government's approach is infuriating, but in order for China's high-speed rail to go out, China Railway Construction and China Railway 11th and 12th Bureaus unanimously said that they will still participate in the second bidding.
From the perspective of comprehensive strength, China Railway has a more comprehensive financing plan and high-speed rail technology, so even if it is re-tendered, it has a high probability of standing out.
But just 16 days after China Railway submitted its bid, the Mexico government came up with another wave of mysteries, announcing that the high-speed rail project would be shelved indefinitely.
It is reported that the Mexico government abandoned this high-speed rail for two reasons:
First, some Western countries, including the United States, have been pressuring Mexico to reconsider its decision to have Chinese companies build high-speed rail.
Second, the opposition parties also took the opportunity to attack, accusing the Nieto government of procedural irregularities and black-box operations in the bidding process, and under the dual pressure of internal and external troubles, the Nieto government had no choice but to suspend the high-speed rail project in order to calm the political crisis.
However, the default of the Mexico government is undoubtedly a heavy blow to China Railway Construction, which not only lost a lot of upfront investment, but more importantly, missed the "golden key" to open the American market.
According to international regulations, Mexico must compensate China Railway for this breach of contract no more than 1% of the quotation, and their quotation at that time was as high as 10 billion yuan, so the equivalent of their compensation did not exceed 270 million yuan.
What is surprising is that the Mexican side only compensated 20 million pesos, equivalent to 8.1 million yuan, and hastily ended the contract of the century of nearly 10 billion US dollars.
The road to breakthrough for the Venezuela high-speed rail project
While Chinese high-speed rail companies suffered Waterloo in Mexico, Venezuela, another South United States country, threw an olive branch to them.
In 2009, the Venezuela government put forward an ambitious plan to build a high-speed railway with about 468 kilometers between the capital, Caracas, and Barcelona, the third-largest city.
Known as the "Tinaco-Anaco high-speed railway", the high-speed railway is one of the largest infrastructure projects in Venezuela's history.
After fierce international bidding, China Railway Construction Co., Ltd. successfully won the bid and signed a contract with Venezuela with a total amount of nearly 8 billion US dollars, which marks the official entry of China's high-speed rail into the South American market, which is also an important milestone.
However, the political and economic situation in Venezuela is far more complicated than people think, the country has long relied on oil exports, has a single economic structure, is greatly affected by international oil price fluctuations, and Western countries have frequently imposed sanctions on Venezuela, further exacerbating the country's economic difficulties.
In this context, China Railway Construction's high-speed rail project in Venezuela is struggling, and in the process of project promotion, Venezuela's funds have been frequently disconnected, the supply of raw materials is insufficient, land acquisition is difficult, and wildlife protection problems have emerged, making the China Railway Construction team face the test of various "force majeure" factors.
Although China Railway did not back down, with superb technical strength and rigorous work style, the China Railway Construction team was also confident to complete this task, but due to the collapse of Venezuela's economy and the disconnection of funds, this high-speed railway also had to be suspended.
"Iron" bones: the revelation of high-speed rail "going out".
Looking back on the course of China's high-speed railway "going global", we have seen an epic of struggle full of ups and downs, full of sorrow and joy, from the bitter lessons of Mexico to the difficulties of Venezuela, from the glory of the Javan high-speed railway to the glory of the China-Laos railway, China's high-speed railway people have composed a touching and profound movement of struggle with the will and responsibility of "iron".
In the process, they have experienced too many difficulties and setbacks, language barriers, cultural differences, policy changes, and every overseas project is an uphill battle that requires hard work.
However, it is in these tribulations that China's high-speed rail people have tempered the quality of "iron bones" and accumulated valuable lessons, and they have realized that the "going out" of high-speed rail is by no means a single effort, but a systematic project involving all aspects.
From pre-planning, design to construction, and then to post-operation and maintenance, each link requires close cooperation and cooperation between enterprises, governments, financial institutions and other parties.
At the same time, they also realize that in the complex and changeable international market, enterprises must have the comprehensive strength of "all five organs".
From survey and design to equipment manufacturing, from construction to operation and maintenance, each field must be practiced hard work, and at the same time, we must also pay attention to localized management, introduce local employees, spread advanced technology, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, so as to truly take root overseas and win the market and people's hearts.
More importantly, they have a deep understanding of the strategic significance of high-speed rail "going global", which is not only a business behavior of enterprises, but also an important carrier to serve the overall situation of national diplomacy and enhance the image of Made in China.
Therefore, to tell the story of China's high-speed rail, spread China's development concept, and contribute wisdom and strength to the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, only by keeping the overall situation in mind and looking at the world can we truly realize the grand blueprint of a high-speed rail power.
epilogue
Today, standing at a new historical starting point, China's high-speed rail is facing unprecedented opportunities and challenges.
The in-depth promotion of the "Belt and Road" initiative has opened up a broad space for high-speed rail to "go global", but at the same time, uncertainties such as the wave of anti-globalization and geopolitical risks are also intensifying.
In the future, how will China's high-speed rail seize the opportunities, meet the challenges, and continue to write brilliant on the world stage? This requires a joint effort of businesses and the state.
Standing in the future, we have reason to believe that with its strong technical strength, flexible adaptability and open spirit of cooperation, China's high-speed rail will be able to achieve steady and far-reaching success in the international market, and make new and greater contributions to promoting global interconnection and promoting world economic recovery!
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