Beijing pitches US$5.2bn toward Russia's first high-speed railway

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-04-01

Two high-speed locomotives in a hangar in Guiyang, Guizhou province.
(File photo/CNS)

Beijing plans to invest 300 billion Russian rubles (US$5.2 billion) to build Russia's first high-speed rail line between Moscow and Kazan, reports the Xinhua publication Reference News.

China reportedly proposed the investment to Alexander Misharin, first vice president of Russian Railways, in a meeting during the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan. Chinese officials suggested the two countries form a joint venture for the rail line, each taking a 50% stake.

Around 50 billion rubles (US$860 million) of the investment will be equity payment made by the Chinese company responsible for the project. Chinese banks will lend the remaining 250 billion rubles (US$4.3 billion) to Russia for 20 years.

The 770km-long rail line linking five regions in Russia — Moscow, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Cheboksary and Kazan — would reduce the travel time from 11 and half hours to around three and a half. Many European and Chinese companies have shown interest in the project.