DATE=12/31/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CHINA / MAGLEV TRAINS - L ONLY

NUMBER=2-297933

BYLINE=JIM RANDLE

DATELINE=BEIJING

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: China and Germany have inaugurated the world's first commercial magnetic levitation train Tuesday in Shanghai. V-O-A's Jim Randle reports, success in the 30-kilometer project could lead to mag-lev lines linking China's most important cities.

TEXT:

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At inaugural ceremonies, China's Prime Minister Zhu Rongji and Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder smiled as they rode on Shanghai's new German-engineered mag-lev train.

Mr. Zhu joked that he didn't buy insurance before getting on the new train, but he was quite serious about the future of this new transport system.

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The prime minister says he has complete confidence that the mag-lev technology will have a broad future in China.

The system links Shanghai's new downtown business district with the city's new airport, cutting travel time from 45 minutes to just seven.

"Mag-lev" uses powerful electromagnets to float the train above the ground and push it forward. Freed of the friction and bumps of normal rails, the mag-lev train is capable of much higher speeds - more than 400 kilometers per hour - than conventional rail systems.

China's Minister of Railways Fu Zhihuan says mag-lev technology might be applied in a 12-billion dollar high-speed rail project linking Beijing and Shanghai, or in a bid to link Hong Kong with bustling cities in southern China.

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Mr. Fu says the lessons learned from the Shanghai project will play a role in deciding what technology will be used in future rail projects.

French and Japanese companies have been operating high speed railways of a more conventional design for many years and are reported to be interested in China's huge transportation projects.

Germany is China's largest European trading partner and winning such a major project would help the nation's sputtering economy and boost its reputation for turning out innovative products. (Signed)

NEB/HK/JR/JO