China, France: The two largest players in the global rolling stock market both published full-year results in April and May.
CRRC’s annual report puts R&D spending at CNY 18.2 bln ($2.7 bln), up 8.9% year-on-year and equivalent to 6.7% of revenue. Revenue itself grew 10.8% to CNY 273.1 bln (over $40 bln). Among the major projects cited by the Chinese manufacturer were the CR450 high-speed train with maximum operating speed of 400 km/h, a 600 km/h maglev train, a carbon-fibre metro train, a hydrogen-powered intercity train and other rolling stock.
For the current year, CRRC unsurprisingly points to the targets of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), with a focus on further expansion of the high-speed rail network, digitalisation of rolling stock and technological self-reliance in supply chains and personnel. The company also plans to strengthen its integrated offerings: rolling stock supply bundled with maintenance, and turnkey transport projects. The report also flags that work on a national high-speed maglev network is on China’s agenda for the coming years, though the technology itself receives little space in the document overall.
Alstom, by contrast, reports R&D spending of €0.7 bln ($0.9 bln), including government support, for its 2025/26 financial year (April 2025 to March 2026). That is 5% higher than the year before and equivalent to 3.9% of the manufacturer’s revenue, which reached €19.2 bln ($22.5 bln), up 3.7%. Alstom does not disclose a detailed breakdown but says the work covered EMU development (including the new high-speed Avelia Horizon), Traxx locomotives, and technology in components, signalling and aftermarket services. Priorities for the year ahead have not yet been disclosed.
The two figures may not be measuring the same thing. CRRC states that more than 23,000 people (15% of its workforce) are engaged in R&D, but nearly 11,000 of them are undergraduate or below. Given CRRC’s extensive network of research centres, the figure may also cover educational and training activities.
CRRC’s R&D figure also includes standards development work: the company reports overseeing or contributing to 28 international, 103 national and 55 industry standards in 2025. Its research activity is also reflected in patent output. CRRC filed more than 5,600 patent applications during the year — three times the figure for the year before. Alstom has not yet provided comparable detail on its R&D.
Export revenue offers another point of comparison. International contracts outside China generated 12.7% of CRRC’s revenue, while contracts outside France accounted for 81.7% of Alstom’s.
