(Reuters) - In the 1860s, Chinese labourers laid track over the treacherous terrain of California's high Sierras to help complete America's first transcontinental railroad.
Fast forward, and California wants Chinese technology and capital to construct the country's first high-speed rail system.
"We look to China to build our high-speed rail, to be part of the bidding process that we are going to go through," the state's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said on a visit to Shanghai this month.
Acceleration of the industrial upgrading that puts China on par with the likes of France and Japan to compete for the Californian contract will be a centrepiece of the country's five-year plan for 2011-2016 now being finalised.
To read the full, original article click on this link: China's home-grown innovation drive stirs unease | Reuters
Author: Alan Wheatley
