Changsha expo to sell Chinese transit systems to the world

　　The China (Changsha) International Rail Transit Expo is expected to become China's largest display platform for the rail industry after three to five years of development, an official in Hunan province said.

　　Chen Shuzhong, director of the Changsha convention and exhibition management office, said that the expo also aims to become a cutting-edge communication platform for rail transit technologies.

　　Changsha, capital of Hunan province in Central China, hosted last year's expo from Nov 28 to 30 together with the High-speed Rail Economic Forum. Noted economists and other experts from home and abroad discussed such topics as innovation of Chinese high-speed railway technologies, high-speed rail's influence on China's economy and the development of rail transit in Changsha.

　　During the expo and forum, the delegates also rode on the middle-to-low speed magnetically levitated (maglev) rail line in Changsha, which began trial operations in May 2016.

He Huawu, chief engineer at China Railway Corp, said: "Hunan is a large province in terms of rail transit and high-speed train manufacturing, and it has attracted several Fortune Global 500 enterprises as well as advanced scientific research and production organizations."

　　He said Changsha is among a few transport hub cities in China that boast several rail transits, including high-speed railways, subways, maglev and light rail.

　　He hopes China's rail transport industry will strengthen regional cooperation and the expo in Changsha will draw more global attention and become an internationally recognized brand event, He said.

　　Hunan was committed to developing into a world-class center for rail transit equipment R&D, manufacturing and services, local officials said.

　　The province also has a complete rail transport industry chain with annual output valued at more than 200 billion yuan ($29 billion), which laid a solid foundation for hosting the 2016 expo, they said.

　　Xu Dazhe, governor of Hunan, said at the 2016 expo that Hunan was continuing to promote the rail transit industry as a priority in the advanced manufacturing sector.

　　"We hope to take this expo as an opportunity to communicate and share with other countries good practices in construction and development of rail transit, especially high-speed railways," Xu said.

　　He said that Hunan, by expediting development of rail transport such as high-speed railways and urban subways, fostered the R&D and production capabilities for rail transport equipment in recent years and the sector had made good progress.

　　Rail transit equipment made in Hunan was exported to many countries and has received favorable comments from many sources, Xu said.

　　The Hunan government issued a document in April 2016 that gives 16 measures for helping the province to develop a world-class rail transport industry cluster and increase the size of the sector.

　　The province will support Zhuzhou city in building advanced rail transit industry centers, and in addition to policy support on capital, land use and experts, Hunan will organize one to two rail transport industry conferences for companies to communicate and find cooperation opportunities, the document said.

　　Local officials said the China international rail transit expo and high-speed rail economic forum will always be hosted in Changsha. It will help Hunan's equipment industry, led by rail transit, to promote innovation-driven development in related sectors such as construction engineering, vehicle manufacturing and electrical equipment, they said.

　　The expo can also help exports of China's high-speed rail and rail transit systems and promote the international image of Made in China.