In under a decade, China has built a high-speed rail network totalling more than 10,000km. It eclipses every other country’s high-speed network and even that of the entire European unx. Not only that, to build it China spent two-thirds or less what other countries have spent.

在不到10年的時間里，中國已經(jīng)建成了總長超過10000公里的高速鐵路網(wǎng)。其他國家的高速網(wǎng)絡相比相形見絀，甚至整個歐盟的高速網(wǎng)絡都相形見絀。不僅如此，為了建造這些，中國花費的代價僅為其他國家花費的三分之二甚至更少。

According to a World Bank paper published last week, China’s high-speed rail so far has cost between $17m and $21m per kilometre, even though it has a high ratio of big-ticket viaducts and tunnels. In Europe that figure is $25m-$39m per kilometre, while in California, the only US state currently planning a high-speed line, it’s more like $56m/km.

世界銀行（World Bank）上周發(fā)表的一篇論文稱，中國高鐵每公里造價在1700萬至2100萬美元之間。在歐洲，每公里造價為2500萬至3900萬美元，而在美國目前唯一一個規(guī)劃高速線路的州——加州，其每公里造價為5600萬美元。

Some of the reasons are not surprising. For instance, in a country where according to the World Bank 978 million people lived on less than $5 a day in 2008, labour has been cheap.

其中一些原因并不奇怪。例如，根據(jù)世界銀行（worldbank）的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，在這樣一個國家：2008年仍然有9.78億人每天生活費不足5美元，其勞動力一直很便宜。

And in an authoritarian state like China, the cost of moving people out of the way is low. The paper’s authors note that site work and right-of-way costs in litigious California are around $10m/km, or 17.6% of the total cost, while in China land acquisition and resettlement costs are below 8% of project cost.

而在中國這樣的**國家，轉(zhuǎn)移民眾的成本很低。論文作者指出，在加州，工地工作及通行權(quán)（拆遷）成本約為1000萬美元/公里，占總成本的17.6%，而在中國，土地征用和移民安置成本低于項目成本的8%。

But other reasons may be more interesting both to the developed world and to regions like Africa that are sorely in need of transformative infrastructure.

但對于發(fā)達國家和非洲等迫切需要變革性基礎(chǔ)設施的地區(qū)來說，其他原因可能更令人感興趣。
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For one thing, the sheer scale of China’s rail programme and the state’s firm commitment to it unleashed the country’s technical and manufacturing capabilities. The declaration of a credible plan to build 10,000 km of high-speed rail over six to seven years energised the construction and equipment supply community, the paper says. Assured of very high volumes, companies and state institutions ramped up capacity quickly and invested in innovative techniques.

一方面，中國鐵路項目的巨大規(guī)模和國家對此項目的堅定承諾“釋放”了中國的技術(shù)和制造能力。該報說，宣布一項可信的計劃，在6至7年內(nèi)修建1萬公里的高鐵，為建筑和設備供應界注入了活力。由于產(chǎn)量非常高，公司和國家機構(gòu)迅速提高了產(chǎn)能，并投資于創(chuàng)新技術(shù)。

“This,” writes Gerald Ollivier, a World Bank senior transport specialist and paper co-author, “has led to lower unit costs as a result of the development of competitive multiple local sources for construction (earthworks, bridges, tunnels, EMU trains etc.) that adopted mechanization in construction and manufacturing.

世界銀行高級運輸專家、論文合著者杰拉爾德·奧利維爾（Gerald Ollivier）寫道：“這導致了單位成本的降低，這是由于在建筑和制造業(yè)采用機械化的多種具有競爭力的當?shù)亟ㄖY源（土方工程、橋梁、隧道、動車組列車等）的發(fā)展。

“Further, large volumes and the ability to amortize capital investment in high-cost construction equipment over a number of projects contributed to the lowering of unit costs.”

“此外，數(shù)量龐大以及能夠?qū)⒏叱杀窘ㄖO備的資本投資分攤到若干項目中，有助于降低單位成本?！?/b>

The Chinese government also has the clout to standardise designs – for embankments, track, viaducts, electrification, signalling and communication systems – which cuts cost and duplication of effort.

中國也有能力將路堤、軌道、高架橋、電氣化、信號和通信系統(tǒng)的設計標準化，從而降低成本和重復勞動。

It also standardised construction techniques. Here, the paper’s authors admired the Chinese approach to viaducts. China built a lot of these to save scarce farmland or to leap over rivers and, even though they are expensive to build, the cost was kept down by standardising the design and manufacture of viaduct bridge beams.

它還使施工技術(shù)標準化。在這里，該報的作者對中國人修建高架橋的做法表示贊賞。中國建造了很多這樣的橋梁是為了節(jié)省稀缺的農(nóng)田或跨越河流，盡管建造成本很高，但通過標準化高架橋梁的設計和制造來降低成本。

Their span is standardised at either 24m or 32m and they are cast in temporary factories set up along the railway alignment. Each beam is transported no more than 8km by a specially-designed vehicle with up to 18 axles.

其跨度標準化為24m或32m，并在鐵路沿線設立的臨時工廠中澆筑。每根梁的運輸距離不超過8公里，由一輛專門設計的車輛（最多18根車軸）完成。

It was China’s handling of tunnels, however, that most impressed Ollivier et al. They noted that the Chinese system for tunnel construction resulted in a unit cost of $10m to $15m per kilometre, a fraction of what it costs New Zealand ($43m), the US ($50m), and Australia ($60m). The system allowed China to tunnel fast, as well, at a rate of five to 10 metres per day.

然而，給奧利維爾等人留下最深刻印象的是中國對隧道的處理方式。他們指出，中國的隧道建設系統(tǒng)導致了每公里1000萬至1500萬美元的單位成本，僅為新西蘭（4300萬美元）、美國（5000萬美元）和澳大利亞（6000萬美元）成本的一小部分。這一系統(tǒng)也使中國能夠以每天5至10米的速度快速挖掘隧道

It’s little wonder, given its remarkable high-speed rail feat, that China is exporting its rail construction expertise all over the world, especially to Africa, and is even keen to help build the UK’s first significant high-speed rail network, dubbed HS2.

毫無疑問，鑒于其卓越的高鐵成就，中國正在向全世界，特別是非洲輸出其鐵路建設專業(yè)知識，甚至熱衷于幫助英國建設第一個重要的高鐵網(wǎng)絡，即為高鐵2號。

But could the benefits of the Chinese approach be realised in big, decentralised regions, like the Gulf, Africa as a whole, or the United States? It seems unlikely.

但是，中國方法的好處能否在大而分散的地區(qū)實現(xiàn)，比如海灣地區(qū)、整個非洲或美國？這似乎不太可能。