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123 15 Speed Up Railroad Construction and the Pace of Reform1 january 11, 1993 First of all, we should fully affirm the achievements of the work of the railway people. Last year, under extremely difficult circumstances, when railway facilities were very inadequate for the rapid growth of the national economy, railroad workers pushed themselves very hard and used every means at their disposal to reach and exceed the scheduled shipping targets. Although our railroad work is quite good, it still fails to meet the needs of our national economic growth. rail transport currently has too many problems, and it puts too many constraints on our economic growth. this further strengthens my resolve to make sure railroad work improves. We must improve railroad construction— seizing this link will alter the whole picture. if we want our national economy to yield better results, we have to adjust the industrial structure, and right now that means making a great effort to develop transportation. the railroads in particular are both the vanguard and the weakest link, and badly need strengthening. today i’d like to discuss several issues—consider this a pep talk for all of you. 1. Fight a Decisive Three-Year Battle, and Step Up the Pace of National Railroad Construction Why do i talk about a decisive three-year battle? We must pump ourselves up— it won’t do to drag things out too long. the key will be these three years. if things get going, they will have a decisive impact. right now rail transport is experiencing shortages everywhere. the freight capacity of the 20-odd limiting sections in 12 rail lines can only meet 40% of our needs, 60% at most. Surely we can change this situation in three years. We must get pumped up and ferociously fight a war of annihilation! But the fundamental problems won’t be solved in three years, or in five—i’m afraid it will take ten years. We must first organize properly for this decisive three-year battle. 1. this is the main part of zhu rongji’s speech at a meeting of leading railroad system cadres in Beijing on january 8–11, 1993. Participants included the leading members of all the units of the national rail system. 124 Speed Up Railroad Construction and the Pace of Reform Ten Lines That Need to Be Constructed. Yesterday, i and the comrades in the leading Party group of the Ministry of railways conducted a preliminary study of rail lines that need to be constructed during these three years. We came up with a total of 10 lines, 7 of which can be completed during the eighth Five-Year Plan;2 the other three can’t be completed in this time. The Beijing-Kowloon Line,3 total length 2,370 kilometers. the Ministry of railways had originally planned to have this line completed in 1997. now we’re preparing to have all the tracks laid by 1995, and to have switching equipment installed and in operation by 1996. Although this will already take maximum effort, is it possible for us to come up with some ideas that could produce a few results during the period of the eighth Five-Year Plan? try to have some switching before the end of 1995, even if the project isn’t completey finished. that’s why i’ve volunteered to be your adviser on the Beijing-Kowloon Line, to lift your spirits, in hopes of speeding up the construction a little bit. We should make the Beijing-Kowloon Line a model and consider whether sections can be contracted out, whether provinces can contract for their portions, whether things can be done a little faster. i suggest that the executive Vice governor of each province that this line passes through also serve as an adviser for the construction of that section, because this railway will be a lifeline to these provinces, and it will be very important for local economic development. i’ve heard some feedback that some places want to charge labor-financing fees for railroad construction, and other places are experiencing conflicts between railroad construction and the preservation of cultural heritage. even after specialists have examined and discussed the route, even when the heritage issue is avoided and will not be affected, they still won’t permit work to start and delay things by three or more years. i hope you will all set your sights higher and actively support railroad construction. once the railroads are developed, they...

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