中国中铁股份有限公司总裁张宗言：中国中铁高质量发展的未来路径：将着力抓好海外主业发展，筑牢高质量发展的坚实根基；抓好海外发展的创新创造，激发高质量发展强劲动力；还将抓好跨境并购，优化企业海外高质量发展整体布局。
　　Zhang Zongyan， President of China Railway Group Limited： China Railway will promote high-quality development from three aspects： grasping the development of overseas main businesses to lay solid foundation for high-quality development， paying attention to innovation and creation in overseas development and motivating strong power of high-quality development， and seizing the opportunities of cross-border merger & acquisition （M&A） in the future to optimize overall layout of overseas high-quality development of enterprises.
　　3月19日，孟加拉帕德玛大桥施工现场每一位工作人员脸上都挂着不同往日的严肃，当对讲机里的指令落下最后一个音节时，大桥南岸岸边过渡墩上的150吨龙门吊轰隆作响，隆隆巨响打破了帕德玛河的宁静，也预示着由中铁大桥局集团有限公司承建的孟加拉帕德玛大桥首块公路桥面板安装正式启动。
　　全长6.15公里的帕德玛大桥主桥为双层钢桁梁结构，上层是双向四车道公路，下层为单线铁路。上层公路桥面由2917块桥面板组成，今天架设的正是第一块桥面板。当龙门吊缓缓升起，那块51吨的桥面板牵动着在场每一位工作人员的神经。
　　桥面板的安装位置精度要求极高，误差允许值仅为2毫米，且定位难度极大。为保证测量定位的极度精准，现场技术人员采用相对定位法，以钢梁为基准，时时测量计算。当安装成功的消息回响在整个指挥室时，工程师们脸上终于有了一丝放松。

技术创新 打造“梦想桥”

　　桥面板的成功安装，只是帕德玛大桥技术突破的一个缩影。从2015年12月12日大桥主体开工那天开始，技术创新便成为中铁大桥局修建帕德玛大桥的关键词。
　　涛涛恒河水在进入孟加拉国后被称为帕德玛河，河水贯穿整个孟加拉国，将其分为南北两半。一到雨季，孟加拉国充沛的降雨量便使帕德玛河洪水泛滥，再加上南北不通，给孟加拉国的经济发展带来了严重制约，用一座“梦想之桥”将南北联通，是孟加拉国人一直以来的梦想。
　　在前期勘测中中方工程师发现，帕德玛河河床泥沙淤积、地质松软，桥桩附着力较差，一旦洪水来临，建筑就会发生不均匀的沉降。对于大桥来说这将导致其变形、断裂甚至垮塌。
　　为解决这个难题，保障大桥稳固，中铁大桥局的工程师们特别设计了“钢管桩桩端预压施工方法”。先打一根120多米长的钢管桩进入土体中，确保有足够的摩擦力来固定桩基；并在桩的底部设置一个土塞，将水泥浆注入土塞内，使之与土塞混合渗透产生足够的强度。这样，土塞、混凝土与钢管桩之间可以形成封闭结构，相当于人为制造了一个可以承担一定桩端压力的微型承台，以此提高桥桩的稳定性。
　　项目负责人特别介绍，“每根钢管桩重达550吨，由39节钢板卷筒焊接而成。整座大桥一共打下240根这样的钢桩，并在上面建立了40个桥墩。”与此同时，技术人员使用专业软件对打桩施工进行模拟计算，并专门定制了世界上最大、造价近1亿元的液压锤。在它们的“加持下”，钢管桩与土体的结合极为密实。这样在雨季来临时，这些钢桩也能像定海神针一般插在河道里阻挡洪水，稳固桥基。
　　另外，在工程师们的建议下，一种低收缩、高保坍的聚羧酸减水剂的运用，一举解决了孟加拉国混凝土质量差的问题。在建设过程中，中铁大桥局还创造了目前世界上最深的桥梁钢管斜桩，突破了精度要求更高、难度更大的钢梁焊接技术，在世界上首次使用桥面板胶接技术，并因地制宜的采用了涂漆防腐新工艺……数之不尽的技术创新，成就了这座中企在海外承接的最大单体桥梁工程。作为中国中铁股份有限公司旗下的全资子公司，中铁大桥局无疑在此项目上交出了一份漂亮的科技创新成绩单。
　　在4月份举行的第二届“一带一路”国际合作高峰论坛上，习近平主席强调，推动共建“一带一路”沿着高质量发展方向不断前进。究其根本，高质量发展离不开技术创新这个内核，而帕德玛大桥的建设正是中国中铁向高质量发展迈进的一次生动实践。在此过程中，中国中铁考虑的也绝不仅仅是技术创新这一方面。如何利用项目，推动“一带一路”区域经济发展？如何带动区域经济迈上高质量发展新台阶？中国中铁已给出了自己的答案。

一条铁路开出的国际物流中心

　　2016年10月5日这天，对于埃塞俄比亚和吉布提两个非洲国家来说，意义非凡。这两个国家，一东一西，一个地处内陆，以农业为主、依赖进出口贸易；一个地处红海、亚丁湾中节点，却因国土面积限制、自给能力较低。用一条铁路联通两国，打通非洲屋脊与亚丁湾的运输动脉，是东非经济活跃度提升的一个行之有效的方案。
　　为此，中国中铁的“筑路人”走进了非洲，一步步“丈量”出铁路设计沿线土地，攻克一个个技术难关，让“从零海拔的吉布提到平均海拔超过2500米的埃塞高原，建设一条现代电气化铁路比登天还难”的不可能成为了可能。通车仪式上，随着白色列车一同驶出的，不仅是全部采用“中國标准”的非洲首条跨国电气化铁路，更是埃塞俄比亚和吉布提经济转型的开端。 　　在吉布提港口堆場外的马路两侧，散落着成片的钢材等散货。港口外，等待装卸货的大卡车排成两三公里的长龙。亚吉铁路建成后，货物从吉布提港口运至埃塞俄比亚首都亚的斯亚贝巴的时间从一周缩短为10余个小时，大大提高了跨境物流效率。吉布提港口来往的货车日渐多了起来，而距离吉布提港口不远处，只见用于起吊集装箱的十几座大型桥吊、门机并排分布在海港沿岸，一座全新的港口正在紧张施工，这里也是亚吉铁路支线延伸线的尽头。
　　这座由中国企业规划建设的大型港口将承担起吉布提国际物流中心的重任，未来，非洲国家出口货物将更大规模依靠铁路运至吉布提，然后利用大型货轮运往世界各地，同时进口货物也将通过亚吉铁路，并借助东非铁路网运抵东非各国。
　　数据显示，吉布提港口集装箱年吞吐能力为近100万标准箱和500万吨杂货，未来吉布提港口的吞吐量将持续增长，并提升吉布提服务埃塞俄比亚、南苏丹、索马里的作用。
　　外交部部长助理张军在谈到高质量、高标准推进“一带一路”时强调，共建“一带一路”，就是想通过加强各国间的互联互通，进一步改进和完善全球供应链、价值链、产业链，让那些处在不利位置上的国家，能够更好地参与到全球分工当中，更多地从全球价值链中获益，从而为自身发展创造更大的动力，也为世界经济增长创造更大的动力。中国中铁无疑已经在这条路上踏出了坚定的一步。

向“三高”迈进

　　此前，中国中铁股份有限公司总裁张宗言在参加第二届“一带一路”国际合作高峰论坛时从三个方面阐释了中国中铁高质量发展的未来路径。
　　他表示，中国中铁首先将着力抓好海外主业发展，筑牢高质量发展的坚实根基。近几年，中国中铁已经开始在推动技术、人才、资金等各类资源要素向海外主业集中上着眼。在此过程中，也不断加快全产业链整体出海步伐。亚吉铁路等项目的完成，就是对此最好的实践。其次，抓好海外发展的创新创造，激发高质量发展强劲动力，是中国中铁提质发展的另一个重点，“在海外市场，创新是实现高质量发展的桥头堡和制高点。”除了帕德玛大桥，中国中铁承建的雅万高铁、中老铁路也在科技创新上做足了文章。此外，中国中铁还将抓好跨境并购，优化企业海外高质量发展整体布局。据张宗言透露，中国中铁正在进行对克罗地亚当地一家公司的并购。“我们跨境并购会聚焦在与公司国际化发展形成战略性互补，可以说这也是公司优化海外高质量发展整体布局的关键一招。”
　　2018年8月，从中国中铁发布的2018年中期业绩报告不难看出，中国中铁在最近几年企业结构调整中的数据变化，而这份报告也印证着张宗言提到的中国中铁高质量发展的战略布局。
　　报告显示，2018年上半年，中国中铁完成新签合同额6347亿元，同比增长13%。其中，公司基础设施建设业务完成新签合同5268亿元，同比增长9.1%；基建业务中铁路、市政及其他业务的经营业绩表现突出，分别完成新签合同额889.2亿元和3441亿元，增幅分别为10.4%和17.5%，公司市政及其他业务占基建业务合同额的比重进一步提升。另外，勘察设计与咨询业务、工程设备和零部件制造业务、房地产开发、其他业务新签订单分别为130.9亿元、168.8亿元、240.2亿元、539.3亿元，同比分别增长8.4%、5.7%、53.7%、53.8%。

　　数字背后代表的是中国中铁正向“高质量、高标准、高水平”迈进的步伐，无论是技术创新的核心，还是带动区域经济的发展，抑或是公司结构的调整，这些无疑都是中国中铁交出的向“高质量提档升级”的答卷。
　　On March 19， each worker on construction site of Padma Bridge in Bangladesh looked serious， when the order was released through interphone， the 150 tons gantry crane on transition pier of the south bank of the bridge began to roar to break the quiet Padma River， indicating formal launching of the erection of the first deck slab of highway bridge of Padma Bridge in Bangladesh undertaken by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co.， Ltd. （MBEC）， a subsidiary of China Railway.
　　The main bridge of Padma Bridge with full length of 6.15 kilometers has double-layer steel girder structure， with the upper layer as two-way four-lane highway， and the lower layer as single-line railway. The upper highway bridge deck is composed of 2，917 deck slabs， and the slab erected today is the first deck slab. With slow lifting by gantry crane， the nerve of each on-site worker was drawn by the 51 tons slab. 　　Bridge deck has very high erection position accuracy requirements with allowable error of only 2 millimeters， and it is very difficult to be positioned. To ensure extremely accurate surveying and positioning， relative positioning methods was adopted by on-site technicians who took steel girder as base for real-time measurement and calculation. Engineers finally looked a little relaxed after the message of successful erection echoed throughout command room.

Technology innovation creates a “dream bridge”

　　The successful bridge deck erection is only a miniature of technology breakthrough of Padma Bridge. From the commencement of main works of the bridge on December 12， 2015， technology innovation has become a keyword of the construction of Padma Bridge by MBEC.
　　The Ganges River is called Padma River in Bangladesh， and the river goes through the entire Bangladesh， dividing the country into the south half and the north half. In the rainy season， the sufficient precipitation of Bangladesh will flood Padma River， and since the south is not connected with the north， the economic development of Bangladesh suffers from severe restriction. To connect the south and the north by a “dream bridge” has been a dream of the Bangladeshis for a long time.
　　During the preliminary survey， Chinese engineers noticed that Padma River has loose sediment on river bed， which may lead to poor adhesive force of the bridge pier. It can be indicated that structures of the bridge will suffer from non-uniform sedimentation in case of flood， causing deformation， fracture or even collapse.
　　To solve the problem and guarantee the bridge stability， the engineers of MBEC designed “steel tube pile tip pre-pressing construction method”. A steel tube pile with length of about 120 meters was driven into soil mass to ensure enough friction force to fix pile foundation； the pile bottom was set with a soil plug filled with cement mortar to ensure enough strength through mixing and infiltration with the soil plug. In this way， closed structure can be formed among soil plug， concrete and steel tube pile， like a man-made micro-cap capable of bearing certain pile tip pressure， thus improving the bridge pile stability.
　　The relevant project leader emphasized： “each steel tube pile has weight of 550 tons and consists of 39 steel sheet drums through welding. The entire bridge is set with 240 such steel piles on which 40 piers are built.” Besides， technicians have performed simulation calculation for piling with professional software and in particular customized the largest hydraulic hammer in the world， with cost of nearly RMB 100 million. “Reinforced” by these efforts， steel tube pile is in compact combination with soil mass. In this way， these steel piles will be solid in the river to retain flood and stabilize bridge foundation firmly during the rainy season. 　　What’s more， suggested by engineers， a low-shrinkage and high-slump-retention polycarboxylate superplasticizer was utilized to solve the problem of poor concrete quality in Bangladesh. During construction， MBEC also created the deepest inclined steel tube pile for bridge in the world， broke through the steel girder welding technology with higher accuracy requirements and higher difficulty， adopted bridge deck cementing technology for the first time in the world， and applied the new process of paint corrosion prevention according to local conditions…The countless technology innovations have promoted the largest single bridge project undertaken overseas by Chinese enterprises. As a wholly owned subsidiary of China Railway Group Limited， MBEC has undoubtedly presented a satisfactory report card of scientific and technological innovation in this project.
　　In the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation （BRF） held in April this year， President Xi Jinping emphasized that the Belt and Road Initiative（BRI） should be promoted for continuous advancement in high-quality development direction. High-quality development fundamentally relies on technology innovation， while the construction of Padma Bridge is a vivid practice of the advancement of China Railway towards high-quality development. In this process， China Railway considered more than just technology innovation. How to promote Belt and Road regional economic development by the project？ How to drive regional economy to a new step of highquality development？ China Railway has given its own answer.

An international logistics center created by the railway

　　October 5， 2016 was a date with extraordinary significance for the two African countries - Ethiopia and Djibouti. The two countries， one in the east and the other in the west， are quite different from each other： Ethiopia an inland country mainly relies on agriculture and the import & export trade； Djibouti， on the other hand， sits in the junction of Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with low self-sufficient capability due to limit on territory area. Building a railway to link both the countries， connect the transport artery through African ridge and Gulf of Aden can be an effective solution to improve economic activity of East Africa.
　　Therefore， the “road builders” of China Railway entered Africa， measured the land along railway design line and tackled technical difficulties， accomplishing the impossible task of the constructing a modern electrified railway from zero-altitude Djibouti to Ethiopia Plateau with average altitude of more than 2，500 meters into reality. In the opening ceremony， what began to run was not only the white train driven on the railway， but also the first crossborder electrified railway of Africa completely under“Chinese standards” and the beginning of economic transformation of Ethiopia and Djibouti. 　　Steels and other bulk goods were scattered on both sides of the road out of the yard of the Port of Djibouti. The trucks waiting for loading and unloading lined up for distance of 2～3 kilometers outside the port. After the completion of Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway， the time for transport of goods from the Port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa -capital of Ethiopia is shortened from one week to dozens of hours， greatly improving cross-border logistics efficiency. The amount of trucks coming and going in the Port of Djibouti has grown significantly.Dozens of large-sized bridge cranes and portal cranes were distributed along port beach for lifting containers not far from the Port of Djibouti， working tightly for a brand-new port. It is the end of extension line of the branch of Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway.
　　The large-sized port planned and constructed by Chinese enterprises will undertake the position of an international logistics center of Djibouti； exported goods of African countries will rely on the railway transport to Djibouti in large scale in the future before delivery all over the world by large-sized cargo ships， and imported goods will also be delivered to the countries of East Africa through Addis AbabaDjibouti Railway and railway network of East Africa.
　　Data shows that the Port of Djibouti has annual throughput of nearly 1 million standard containers and 5 million tons of general cargo； the throughput of the Port of Djibouti will increase in the future， and the function of Djibouti to serve Ethiopia， South Sudan and Somalia will also be improved.
　　When it comes to promoting the BRI with highquality and high-standard， Zhang Jun， the Assistant Minister of the Foreign Affairs， once emphasized that the joint construction of Belt and Road is to further improve global supply chain， value chain and industry chain through strengthening interconnection of countries， thus to ensure that the countries in unfavorable locations will also participate in global division of work properly to better benefit from global value chain. In this way， they can create higher power for self-development and global economic growth. Undoubtedly， China Railway has already taken its solid step on this road.

Marching to “three high”

　　Zhang Zongyan， President of China Railway， recently explained “high-quality development” future path of China Railway in three aspects during the Second BRF.
　　He expressed that China Railway would firstly grasp the development of overseas main businesses to lay solid foundation for high-quality development. In recent years， China Railway has focused on the promotion of the concentration of technologies， personnel， funds and other resource factors to overseas main businesses. It has also accelerated overall steps for entire industry chain to go abroad continuously in this process. The completion of Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway Project is the best practice. Secondary， China Railway will pay attention to innovation and creation in overseas development， motivate strong power of high-quality development as another key point of high-quality development of China Railway. He said： “In overseas market， innovation is the bridgehead and commanding height for realizing high-quality development.” In addition to Padma Bridge， the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway and China-Laos Railway undertaken by China Railway have also yielded plenty of scientific and technological innovation. Besides， China Railway will seize the opportunities of cross-border merger & acquisition （M&A） in the future to optimize overall layout of overseas high-quality development of enterprises. It is revealed by him that China Railway is now engaged in the M&A for a Croatian company. “Our cross-border M&A will focus on strategic complementation with international development of the company， which can be considered as a key means of the optimization of overall layout of overseas high-quality development of the company，” said Zhang. 　　In August 2018， it is not easy to find out the data change of China Railway in enterprise structure adjustment in recent years from the interim performance report in 2018 released by China Railway， while the report has also verified the strategic layout of high-quality development of China Railway as mentioned by Zhang Zongyan.
　　The report shows that in the first half of 2018， China Railway completed new contract price of RMB 634.7 billion， with a year-on-year increase of 13%. To be more precise， the infrastructure construction business completed new contract price of RMB 526.8 billion， with a year-on-year increase of 9.1%； railway， municipal engineering and other businesses had prominent operation performance in infrastructure construction business， with new contract price of RMB 88.92 billion and RMB 344.1 billion and growth of 10.4% and 17.5% respectively， indicating a further raise the proportion of municipal engineering and other businesses of the company in contract price for infrastructure construction business. Besides， survey， design and consulting business， engineering equipment and part manufacture business， real estate development and other businesses completed new order amount of RMB 13.09 billion， RMB 16.88 billion， RMB 24.02 billion and RMB 53.93 billion， with a year-on-year increase of 8.4%， 5.7%， 53.7% and 53.8% respectively.
　　The figures represent the pace of China Railway towards “high-quality， high-standard and high-level” development. The core of technology innovation， the promotion of regional economic development and the company’s structural adjustment can all be seen as answers to high-quality upgrading given by China Railway.