The reason for this is simply – Demand & Supply.
When the Demand is high – Innovation and Technology develop very fast especially when the Supply is not readily available.
▪ Coming to The High-speed Railway
Today China has to ensure that its cities don’t become overpopulated which means ensuring that Semi Urban areas are developed Cities and Semi Urban Areas are connected with the fastest possible transport.
Hence China needs more and more trains. This helps ensure that 1.40 Million workers can travel a day over distances of 15–90 Miles and come to work in Shenzhen or Shanghai and go back home rather than staying in the City and crowding it.
And China had to manufacture its own trains because they wanted Speed and they wanted Optimum Cost. They have both. At $ 2.557 Million per Mile of Railroad, China beats Japan ($ 3.774 Million) or Europe ($ 5.154 Million) hollow while delivering 37 Miles per Hour more of aggregate speed. And this is without Maglev or Hyperloop.
▪ Coming to The Cars
Cars were always seen as a Luxury to the Chinese
Initially China had their own Indigenous Make Cars.
Later Demand did grow but Supply was readily available at Lowest Cost.
You have Volkswagen, Toyota and many other companies flocking to China to manufacture cars for Export and for Domestic Sale.
These were Brands that had been around for 40–70 years or even more.
And the pricing was at its lowest.
So China never had the economic demand to create its own Car brand for a long time.
Even today most Chinese ICE Cars are merely for the Domestic Market because the supply is readily available.
The Fact is – Cars are not exactly a Public Transportation and so Cost is not a key factor.
Taxpayers would refuse to pay $ 3.775 Million per Mile for a Japanese Railroad when they could get a Chinese one for $ 1,250,000 less but they would not mind paying an extra$ 6000 to buy a Tesla over a Chinese Brand.
So China needs a revolutionary Technology or a Huge Breakthrough in Cost .
So far only one Car in the world achieved the Cost Breakthrough that enabled it to create a World Market – TOYOTA.
So Either China needs a Battery which gives 1000 km Range or higher OR a Car that is equivalent to a 2.4L ICE but at 40% of the price and same quality
China has not yet reached this level.
Mainly because Demand has not yet been generated so far.
Similar like this , most of the contractor or the owner of the building didn’t possess the demand for the ceramic building materials, like the ceramic wall panel, ceramic decorative art lines, ceramic cornice, ceramic window cover…. However, when they find the advantages of ceramic building materials, like the higher quality, the lower cost, the shorter construction time, the ceramic building materials will become much popular in the modern construction field .
Contact TSTC, then let’s talk details .