China high level leader visits Malaysia and Singapore to strive for HSR project

Nanyang Siang Pau, May 23, 2016

Petaling Jaya, May 22 – China’s high level lobbying group has arrived here to lobby for the high-speed rail (HSR) project between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

China has been putting in a lot of efforts on the HSR project, besides lobbying in Malaysia, it has also sent out senior leaders to Singapore after meeting with “important person” in Kuala Lumpur in the efforts to win over the major project against Japan and Germany.

According to a source the 40-person high-level China Railway delegation led by its general-manager Sheng Guangzu has arrived in Malaysia and will meet with Malaysian government leaders and Chinese community to express its willingness in attaining the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project.

40-person delegation arrived in Malaysia

The source told Nanyang Siang Pau that the delegation would stay here until May 25 before proceed to meet with officials from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore to lobby for the HSR project.

The KL-Singapore HSR project was mooted by LTA and the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) of Malaysia. The delegation will meet with the officials from both authorities respectively.

On the China Railway delegation’s objective in visiting Malaysia, the source said that it is a reciprocal to SPAD Chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid’s visit to China earlier, but the real intention behind is to lobby for the HSR project.

“This is a new round of effort launched by the China Railway, but they will not say it openly.”

The source said the KL-Singapore HSR is an integral part of the Pan Asia Railway which connects the Malaysia-Thailand HSR and China-Thailand HSR in the north; it is not advisable for KL-Singapore HSR to use Japanese Shinkansen due to two different systems.

The source said China is determined to secure the project, Malaysian Chinese community has also urged the government to adopt the Chinese HSR system, and now it is up to Malaysia and Singapore authority to make the decision.

Chinese embassy to arrange for meeting with Najib

It is understood that the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur is trying to arrange for the China Railway delegation to meet with the “Malaysian supreme leader”, and it is believed that the supreme leader is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib.

The source said the delegation will also meet up with several national leaders including SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid and also MyHSR Corp officials.

Sheng Guangzu is the leading figure of the China Railway, this will be his first visit to Malaysia, and the delegation led by him is the most senior China Railway delegation visiting Malaysia so far.

It is understood that the China Railway consortium was formed by six corporations including China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), China Railway Signal & Communication Corporation (CRSC), Export-Import Bank of China and China Investment Corporation (CIC).