China, aviation and HSR

"China’s high-speed rail network keeps rewriting the rules of distance and connectivity. With over 50,000 kilometres of track in operation, linking 97% of cities above 500,000 residents at speeds of up to 350 km/h, it has become the largest and most intensely used system on the planet."  

- Chris Bruntlett

The metrics remind me of levels of US-aviation service coverage, and make me wonder if China hasn't focused on HSR for much the same reason it focused on electric cars: both commercial aviation and internal combustion vehicles are (like semi-conductor manufacturing) industries with extremely high-quality thresholds to be internationally competitive, and rather than fight it out, China pivoted toward New Technologies.