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CSR-GE joint venture targets high-speed rail

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The mainland's CSR Corp, the world's largest manufacturer of electric locomotives, will form a joint venture with a unit of US conglomerate General Electric to pursue high-speed rail projects in the United States.

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CSR and GE Transportation will invest about US$50 million in the venture, which will probably create 250 hi-tech jobs in the US by 2012.

This partnership is another major step forward in passenger rail development in the US, following a memorandum of understanding signed between the Ministry of Railways and GE in November last year.

'CSR and GE will create a leading passenger transportation business in the US, by combining CSR's extensive experience in developing and operating high-speed and medium-speed electric multiple units [EMUs] and urban rail transit vehicles, with GE's manufacturing and supply chain management expertise in America, as well as in-depth knowledge of the US rail market,' Zhao Xiaogang, the chairman of CSR, said yesterday.

The GE Transportation-CSR joint venture becomes the first US manufacturer ready to supply high-speed rail passenger trains for the two proposed high-speed railway corridors in Florida and California. It also advances passenger rail transport through the manufacturing of medium-speed passenger trains and urban rail vehicles across the US.

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'We are committed to advancing the global high-speed rail technology market, and this agreement provides a significant opportunity for infrastructure and business growth,' GE vice-chairman John Rice said. 'It is in line with GE's company-to-country initiatives and will help support investment and hi-tech job growth in America.'

CSR and GE vowed to maximise US content in the trains to meet so-called 'Buy America' standards. All final production will be in the US, helping to sustain about 3,500 long-term, hi-tech manufacturing jobs.

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