Fast train, big dam showcase China's engineering might

China rolled out its fastest train yet last Tuesday, October 26 and announced that the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest hydroelectric project, is now generating electricity at maximum capacity - engineering triumphs that signal the nation's growing ambitions as its economy booms.

The successes demonstrate how, after decades of acquiring technology from the west, Beijing has begun to push the limits of its new capabilities, setting the bar higher on mega-projects as it seeks to promote the image of a powerful, modern China.

But many of these initiatives have come at great human and environmental cost, and some have questioned whether the country fosters a sufficiently innovative spirit to compete on the next level.

Image: Journalists photograph the bullet trains of a new high-speed railway linking Shanghai with Hangzhou.

Text: AP

AP Images

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