A CRH train that runs on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway leaves Tianjin South Railway Station in North China's Tianjin, June 30, 2012. (Photo/Xinhua)
China is interested in bankrolling Russia's first high-speed rail line connecting Moscow and Kazan, investing about 300 billion rubles ($5.2 billion) in the construction of the project, Russian media reported Sunday.
Of the total, 50 billion rubles would come as an equity payment from the Chinese company in charge of the project. A furtehr 250 billion rubles would come in the form of 20-year loans from Chinese banks, according to sources familiar with the proposal.
The 770-kilometer journey from Moscow to Kazan, capital of the Tatarstan republic, will be cut to just three-and-a-half hours instead of the current 11-and-a-half. The train would reach a top speed of 400 km per hour.
The project is planned to better connect mid-size Russian cities by improving transport and the mobility of people.
The Moscow-Kazan line forms the initial section of a Eurasian high-speed railway linking Beijing and Moscow, with completion scheduled for 2018 in time for the World Cup soccer finals in Russia. Kazan is one of the host cities.
The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the line during Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Russia last October.
The rail deal is only part of China's major investment projects in Russia, as the countries move closer in translating their comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination into more practical cooperation, especially in areas of infrastructure construction.
China Development Bank confirmed in April last year its plan to invest $5 billion in infrastructure projects in Russia's Far East.
China has embarked on a program to expand its railway network, with plans to lay thousands of kilometers of track on various continents in the coming years.
China and Thailand have signed an agreement to build high-speed tracks and Chinese firms are also interested in joining the bidding for a high-speed line between Malaysia and Singapore, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi revealed Saturday while attending the annual Boao Forum for Asia conference in Hainan province.
China in May 2014 signed a deal worth $3.8 billion to build a rail linking Kenya's Mombasa and Nairobi, which is actually the first phase of a line that will eventually connect the East African countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
China, Brazil and Peru agreed last July to build a railway that runs across the South American continent, which is aimed at linking the Brazilian Atlantic coast with the Peruvian Pacific coast.
