China to pour in billions for rail project

State visitPrime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak arriving to a red carpet welcome at Beijing International Airport. The Prime Minister, accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, is on his third official visit to China. Last year, bilateral trade between China and Malaysia stood at US97.3bil (RM408.6bil) while it has reached US54.3bil (RM228bil) up to August this year. — Bernama

CHINA will provide RM55bil in soft loans to Malaysia for the construction of the planned East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) that is estimated to cost a similar amount, according to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

In an exclusive interview in Beijing with The Star yesterday, Liow said this will be one of the 16 government-to-government memoranda of understanding to be signed when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak meets with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang for bilateral talks today.