The first group of 10 electric locomotives imported from France were unloaded at Xingang Port, Tianjin on Monday. China will import a total of 300 such engines worth more than $540 million from France to upgrade its railway system. China Daily photo by Kang Xiaomin.

China used to be reliant on foreigners for railway engineering. Even a decade ago it was European knowhow behind high speed rail.

When China decided in 2004 to build its first high-speed railway, it imported trains from foreign makers such as the German conglomerate Siemens, the Japanese corporation Kawasaki and the French firm Alstom.

Chinese engineers then re-designed internal train components and built indigenous trains that can reach operational speeds of up to 380 km/h (240 mph).

Now the UK is eyeing China to help build its domestic lines, a project helping fuel China's high speed rail ambition. Indeed, the world has come full circle – given that the British first brought the technology to the troubled oriental country in the late nineteenth century during the Qing Dynasty.

Next: The price of speed