China wins US$3b bid to build Dhaka-Jessore rail line

Construction company China Railway Group on Tuesday said it has won a US$3.1 billion project to build a rail network in Bangladesh, reports English-language newspaper South China Morning Post.

The rail link will connect capital Dhaka to Jessore, a distance of 168.6 kilometres, with the train designed to run at a top speed of 120 km/h, China Railway said. Construction will take 54 months to complete, the company said, the SCMP adds.

“The project will promote trade links between Bangladesh and China, India as well as Myanmar,” Chinese news agency Xinhua said in a report Monday, after China Railway signed the construction contract with the government.

The Dhaka-Jessore rail link is not China’s sole project in Bangladesh. In 2014, the Bangladesh government awarded state-owned China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited a US$1.55 billion contract to build its Padma bridge project, which is to be completed in four years.

The contract size represents 3.3 per cent of China Railway Group’s latest audited operating revenue, the company said.

Beijing launched its “One Belt, One Road” strategy in 2013 to promote China’s economic and political presence overseas. The initiative involves building major energy and communications projects in central, west and southern Asia, as well as Africa and Europe.

Shares of China Railway rose 3.8 per cent to HK$6.31 on Tuesday trading in Hong Kong. The stock has risen 7.1 per cent this year.