China Railway plans to team up with MTR to jointly develop rail projects along the new silk road

State-run China Railway Group said they plan to “work closely” with Hong Kong’s MTR to jointly develop rail projects in countries included in Beijing’s ambitious plan to improve connectivity and enhance physical infrastructure, known as the “Belt and Road” initiative.

“While we own advanced technology, Hong Kong’s rail company is more international than us. It also has advantages in management and financing, and a better understanding of overseas rules and regulations,” China Railway’s chairman Meng Fengchao said during a panel discussion at the Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong Monday.

In the next step, Meng said they will work closely with MTR to develop rail projects to achieve mutual benefit.

“Hong Kong’s rail company can’t be absent in belt and road projects,” he said.

In the same panel, MTR chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang unveiled that Hong Kong’s sole train operator signed a memorandum of understanding with China Railway last year to jointly expand overseas.

In their first project, the two companies have been bidding for the £32.7 billion (US$43.2 billion) high speed rail project connecting London and Birmingham. The joint bid has been shortlisted among three finalists.

In Asia, the MTR is partnering with China Railway to bid for the contract to build a 350 kilometre high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, which, if successful, would be the MTR’s first project related to China’s belt and road plan.