Foreign leaders ride the rapid rails of China’s technological prowess after SCO summit
Blazing from Beijing to Tianjin on China’s signature high-speed railway, several state leaders are given a glimpse of rapid and lucrative modernisation efforts
Seven state leaders arrived on Monday night: President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko, Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Maldives Mohamed Muizzu, President of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Arriving on Tuesday were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, and Myanmar’s acting president, Min Aung Hlaing.
The high-speed journey to Beijing typically takes around 30 minutes from Tianjin, where the SCO gathering was held from Sunday to Monday. The line is considered China’s first modern high-speed railway, with a maximum operating speed of 350km/h (217mph).
All of the heads of state are expected to attend the large-scale military parade that China is set to hold on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of its World War II victory over Japan in 1945.
To get rich, build roads first; to get rich quickly, build high-speed railways
China’s high-speed railway has increasingly become a platform to showcase the country’s economic and technological prowess in recent years, as the nation also looks to expand the rail network overseas.
“Tianjin is close to Beijing, making high-speed rail the optimal travel choice,” said Wang Yiwei, a professor at Renmin University’s School of International Studies.
“This not only showcases China’s advanced infrastructure but also reflects the Chinese path to modernisation, through this high-speed rail system and the industrial clusters along the routes,” he explained. “It effectively illustrates why infrastructure development takes priority.
“To get rich, build roads first; to get rich quickly, build high-speed railways. So, by driving economic growth, security can be pursued through development.”
The SCO – a largely security-focused bloc – comprises 10 members: Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
As of the end of 2024, China’s high-speed rail network spanned 48,000km, accounting for more than 70 per cent of the world’s total high-speed rail mileage, according to official data.
Meanwhile, China has collaborated with more than 40 countries and regions across Asia, Europe, North America and Africa in railway planning, design, construction, and operation, said Wang Lixin, vice-president of the state-owned China Railway, at the 12th World Congress on High-Speed Rail in Beijing in July.
Completed flagship projects overseas include the China-Laos railway and a route in Indonesia that connects Jakarta and Bandung.
Having been in limbo for decades, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which looks to connect China’s northwestern frontier with several cities in the two Central Asian countries, began full construction earlier this year.
The 304km (189-mile) railway line is expected to establish the shortest rail corridor between the East and West. With a total investment of US$4.7 billion, the first phase is expected to be completed by the end of the decade.
In the first half of 2025, China’s railway system operated an average of 11,183 passenger trains daily, marking a 7.5 per cent year-on-year increase, according to China Railway. Passenger traffic reached 2.24 billion – a 6.7 per cent rise compared with the same period last year, reaching a new high.