The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 367 World Situation

The 'Fuxing' EMU sets sail again.

The goal this time is to drive from Xingjiacun Station to Beijing West Station.

There were only a few people left in the cockpit.

Under Liu Tao's guidance, one of the drivers operated it.

The staff of high-speed trains include drivers, crew members, public security police, on-board mechanics, on-board cleaning staff, and catering staff.

像8节车厢一般配有16名列车员（每节2名）和2名列车长（正副各1人），车辆乘务员3-5人、2名司机，1个随车机械师，3-5个公安乘警，5个随车保洁人员，5-10个餐服人员、列车行李员2人、发电车乘务员2人，广播员1人。

That is to say, the staff establishment of the 'Fuxing' EMU with 8 standard carriages is 37-46 people!
There are core positions here, such as drivers, train conductors, etc.!
Because they are related to whether the trains run normally!

What Liu Tao needs to do is to spend time training drivers, train attendants and other core positions.

In the busy time, a month passed by in a blink of an eye.

Liu Tao finally no longer needed to stay on the 'Fuxing' EMU and was freed from the tediousness of the 'Beijing-Kowloon Railway'.

Five months have passed so far this year, and a lot of things have happened both at home and abroad during these five months.

On New Year's Day, China officially became a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Then, Hong Kong announced its statistical data just after New Year's Day. Stimulated by export trade and driven by huge investments, Hong Kong's economy has completely emerged from the quagmire. All indicators have exceeded the peak in 1982, announcing that this round of economic crisis has been completely overcome and a new prosperity has been ushered in.

Of course, the East and the West are like heaven and hell. Data released by the United States showed that a total of 1983 banks went bankrupt in 48, the highest record in more than years. The economic growth of Western European countries was limited, and many even had negative economic growth. High inflation remained high, and the unemployment rate remained high, making Europe and the United States hate high oil prices very much, and the voices calling for limiting oil prices are growing.

If we were to ask which country in Europe is having the hardest time, it would be the UK, where 12,466 companies went bankrupt last year, the highest number in history.

The Falklands War was a devastating blow to Britain.

On the contrary, the Soviet Union's economic situation continued to be good and rose to a new level. The economic situation of Eastern European countries was generally better than that of Western European countries last year, which led to instability in many Western European countries.

So far, the United States has tried desperately to limit oil prices, but has been unable to push them down.

The oil-producing countries do not want to push down oil prices, and the polar bears keep causing trouble.

As a result, the current oil price is still fluctuating around US$35 per barrel.

But the United States has to continue to import oil, because although the United States has a large oil production, its consumption is even greater, making it a complete oil importing country.

We have helped the UK before by providing a large amount of oil and taking out reserve oil to pre-set oil prices. However, the reserve oil was exhausted last year, and now we have to buy oil for our oil reserves.

The world situation has been quite turbulent in the past two years, with five or six places in the world experiencing wars.

Even the presence of the war is very low, so low that ordinary Chinese people don't feel it, but in the past year, the number of combatants on both sides has exceeded 500,000, which is no less than the number of troops deployed by both sides in the Iran-Iraq battlefield. The Iran-Iraq war in the Middle East is still going on, and there is no sign of ending so far.

Whether it was Saddam Hussein of Iraq or the leader of Persia, both sides repeatedly made tough statements in the international arena and showed no intention of holding peace talks.

If we were to say which country has the strongest momentum, it is not China, which is developing silently, but Japan.

Japan has taken emerging work as its scientific research direction and focused on developing advanced technologies. Last year, its scientific research expenditure reached an all-time high. Japan's development is very rapid. It is also the country with the largest trade deficit with the United States. It can earn huge profits from the world every year. It is currently the largest creditor of the United States and also the country with the largest foreign exchange reserves.

Japan of this era was developing very rapidly, and the American automobile and electronics industries were in a terrible state. Various famous American automobile brands suffered losses one after another. In addition, automobile workers went on strike from time to time. The American automobile industry could not resist the onslaught of Japanese automakers.

As a result, shortly after New Year's Day this year, twelve American companies jointly established a microelectronic equipment and computer technology company to concentrate technical talents to compete with Japan.

Not only that, the United States and China signed a series of cooperation documents including the Memorandum of Understanding on Applied Science and Technology Cooperation Program, the Industrial Technology Cooperation Agreement, and the Investment Insurance Agreement, and the cooperation between the two sides has further advanced.

"Japan does have a lot to learn from." Liu Tao couldn't help but admire after reading the intelligence information at the China North Industries Corporation.

Last year, Japan's automobile production was 1111.1659 units, and automobile exports reached 566.9 units.

Coupled with the rise of electronic products, Japan was able to make huge profits from the world, especially the United States.

As a developed country in the world, it is no wonder that many professional magazines and newspapers continue to list Japanese industry as the world's number one industrial power.

In comparison, Germany, which would become a powerful country in the future, was having a hard time at that time. The number of unemployed people reached 253.93 million, and the unemployment rate rose to 10.2%. It is unknown how many West Germans fled to East Germany.

Even the United States is not having an easy time, because of the huge trade deficit every year, coupled with the high oil prices, which have hit the US economy hard. The entire United States has been in economic stagflation for several years. Last year, the US fiscal year deficit was as high as more than 2000 billion US dollars.

Compared with Japan's strength, China appears to be more low-key. It has strengthened cooperation with the United States, Canada, Britain, France, West Germany, Italy, Portugal and other countries, and increased the number of students sent to study in North America, Europe and Japan. The two sides are strengthening exchanges.

As for Panshan Group's participation in the construction of Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, it is completely inconspicuous amid the worldwide attention.

Even the border war is insignificant in the world and no one pays attention to it.

Instead of focusing on the border war, we should pay more attention to the Iran-Iraq War, because the weapons and equipment of both sides are very advanced, and the Iran-Iraq War affects oil.

The Iran-Iraq War was even seen as a struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Middle East.

China is now implementing internal reform and opening up to the outside world. It is carrying out reforms in all aspects internally and strengthening exchanges externally to attract foreign investment to China. For any war, China also calls on both sides from a peaceful perspective to remain calm, not to go to war, and to sit down at the negotiating table to resolve their differences through political consultation.

For various votes, most people abstain from voting, and their attitude is very obvious, which is that they do not want to participate too much.

Now, China is a country with a trade surplus with Europe and North America. It continuously sends students to study in Europe and North America, and imports various agricultural products, raw materials and some equipment. The annual trade deficit between the two sides is not small, and is showing a trend of increasing.

(End of this chapter)