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17:57, 20-Sep-2017
Premier Li hopes for support from Singapore in high-speed rail bid
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China wants Singapore to support Chinese enterprises' participation in the coming bid for the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail project, Premier Li Keqiang said during talks with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Beijing.
Chinese enterprises are welcome to join the bid for the project, Lee said, noting that the project is "very significant" for Singapore and Malaysia, but perhaps not so difficult for China due to its previous experience in the field.
“We hope to receive China’s proposals,” Lee said in an interview with Xinhua on Saturday, “I think China's bid will be a high quality one."
The global bid for the joint rail project will be held in the last quarter of this year, attracting bidders from China, Japan, South Korea, France and the US.
Among the bidders, China Railway Corp (CRC) and East Japan Railway Co (JR East) are regarded as the two strongest contenders, Singapore newspaper Lianhe Zaobao reported on Tuesday.
VCG Photo
VCG Photo
Japan has traditionally been a major investor for infrastructure projects in southeast Asia, but China has increased investment in the region recently.
In 2015, Japan lost Indonesia’s first high-speed rail project between the capital Jakarta and the textile hub Bandung to China.
The Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail project, also known as Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR), is a strategic project between the two countries that aims to facilitate seamless travel between the two capitals and enhance business links, according to the website of Singapore’s Ministry of Transport.
With terminus stations in Kuala Lumpur’s Bandar Malaysia and Singapore’s Jurong East, the 350 kilometer-per-hour HSR will cut travel time between the two cities from four hours to 90 minutes, the official website said, noting the project is expected to be completed by 2026.
The 14.3 billion-US dollar project is significant to the Trans-Asian rail network, which is a major component of a rail corridor linking southeast Asia with east Asia and also a key step in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
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