Financing agreed for China’s first PPP high-speed project

The first high-speed rail project in China to be implemented as a public private partnership (PPP) moved a step closer to the start of construction on September 11, when China Railway Corporation (CRC) and its commercial partners signed a financing contract for the project in Beijing.

A consortium of eight companies led by Fosun Group, China, will hold a 51% stake in the Yuan 44.9bn ($US 6.9bn) Hangzhou - Shaoxing - Taizhou high-speed line. The remaining shares will be held by CRC, state-owned Zhejiang Communications Investment Group, and local governments.

Construction of the 269km line is expected to take four years to complete. The concessionaire will build and maintain the railway for 30 years before handing the line over to the government.