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The highly anticipated Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway will begin operation next year, and is expected to cut travel time to four hours, railway officials said.

The high-speed railway between China's two most important metropolises was scheduled to open in 2012, but will now open one year ahead of time, the Ministry of Railways reported.

Wang Zhiguo, vice-minister of railways, said that it would be a four-hour journey from Beijing to Shanghai, and only three hours from Beijing to Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province.

At present, it takes about 10 hours to travel from Beijing to Shanghai and Nanjing by train.

A new-generation bullet train that will travel up to 380 kilometers per hour (kph) is now under development for the high-speed rail link.

It will be rigorously tested this year. Engineers want the train to run at a top speed of 420 kph to guarantee a safe operational speed of 380 kph, the China Academy of Railway Sciences told the Beijing News.

China already has 6,552 km of rail track in operation – the most high-speed rail track in the world.

China now wants to export China's high-speed railway technology to North America, Europe and Latin America.

State-owned Chinese companies are already building high-speed lines in Turkey and Venezuela.

Many countries, including the United States, Russia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, have also expressed interest.

Ultimately, China plans to construct a 120,000-km railway network, including 50,000-km of high-speed rail track, by 2020.

Questions:

1. When was the high-speed train between Beijing and Shanghai originally planned to run?

2. By 2020, China high-speed trains are expected to cover how much territory?

3. Where is China building high-speed lines overseas?

Answers:

1. 2012.

2. 500,000-kilometers of high-speed track.

3. China is helping build high-speed track in Turkey and Venezuela.

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（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Renee Haines is an editor and broadcaster at China Daily. Renee has more than 15 years of experience as a newspaper editor, radio station anchor and news director, news-wire service reporter and bureau chief, magazine writer, book editor and website consultant. She came to China from the United States.