China's High Speed Railway Development: Economic Impacts and Lessons in Technology Transfer

This book studies the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) network on regional development and the sustainability of China's GIUR (Government-Industry-University-Research) system. It aims to summarize the experiences of China's HSR, which can provide several policy guidelines for developing countries. The book expounds two key areas: (1) the impact of HSR network on the urban industrial structure, urban creativity and urban-rural income gap of cities in different regions and cities with heterogeneous locations along the HSR lines in the long and short term; (2) the advantages and disadvantages of the GIUR system as well as its adjustment in the technology-pioneering stage.For the first key area, HSR and urban development, Dr Zhao conducted the empirical research and descriptive statistics based on urban development theory, and the results indicate the following conclusions. Firstly, connecting to HSR network can significantly increase the proportion of tertiary industry in the eastern cities of China. Secondly, it can promote the creativity of urban primary and tertiary industries, and more developed cities and non-eastern cities benefit more. In addition, it has also significantly improved the creativity of the tertiary industry in major hub cities. Thirdly, connecting to the HSR network will also widen the urban-rural income gap in economically underdeveloped regions.For the second area, Dr Zhao discovered that in the early stage of technological development in which international advanced technology was brought in, the government dominated GIUR system is more conducive to promoting HSR technology accumulation and development. But in the technological pioneering stage, the system needs to transform into a market-oriented Industry-University-Research system. This book increases people's awareness for reformation system of China's HSR research and development (R&D) and helps to propel the rapid development of similar emerging industries.Finally, the book also discusses the policy implications of China's High Speed Rail Development.