Chinese trainmaker CSR Corp Ltd said it won 1.7 billion yuan ($274.84 million) worth of orders from Argentina, as Chinese rail firms increasingly flex their muscles overseas. CSR will provide locomotive products for a railway renovation project in the South American country, the company said on its website on Monday. China has stepped up its focus on railways this year, spending 590 billion yuan ($95.4 billion) from January to October on new domestic lines and making a concerted effort to push its so-called "railroad diplomacy" overseas. China Railway Construction Corp Ltd signed a $12 billion railway contract in Nigeria in November, the largest single overseas construction deal won by a Chinese firm. CSR said it has been supplying trains and other rail products to Argentina since 2006. In 2013, it won two orders worth about $1 billion together from the country to supply inter-city trains.  CSR Corp and its main rival China CNR Corp Ltd are in merger talks to create a giant able to compete globally with the likes of Siemens AG and Bombardier Inc , state media have reported. (Reuters)