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China could fund a Skr100 billion Nordic railway track

Tuesday, 16 April 2013
China has money and as its economic growth continues to weaken due to low demand from the West, it seems it has been seeking other ways of making the western economies spend more to boost its industrial production. One strategy is similar to what Europe has been doing to Africa and other poorer countries - loan them money for projects such as a Scandinavian high speed railway so that they can in tern buy Chinese products

A new report in Swedish media sources on Tuesday posit that a state owned Chinese construction company, China National Machinery Import&Export has jumped and accepted to provide funding for a partially finance fast railway project in Scandinavia. The project to run a high-speed railway from Copenhagen via Malmö and Gothenburg to Oslo, and would cost around Skr100 billion for a high-speed track is said to be seen by the Chinese as a way to show case their advanced engineering skills.

Image: Down.com
For Sweden, the construction of the high-speed track will cost some Skr100 billion something the Chinese state construction company, China National Machinery Import & Export has offered to finance.

According to media reports, last week at a conference, arranged by the Skåne Region on Southern Sweden to discuss the high-speed solutions, representatives of the Chinese company came up with the proposal. The reason that was give as interest to finance the project - is to demonstrate to other nations how advanced the Chinese technology has developed and how quickly and well they can carry out good quality projects, according to Lennart Serder who is project manager for Region Skåne and rail capacity and expertise.

The project of high-speed train has been debated as part of a larger initiative known as the "Åttamiljonersstaden". The goal is to connect the two Scandinavian capitals, Oslo and Copenhagen, via the major Swedish cities of Gothenburg and Malmö.

A high-speed rail for both freight and passenger service would cost Sweden something in the region of Skr90 and Skr100 billion, according to a report made on behalf of the EU project Corridor of innovation and cooperation.

"It is interesting that a major international player sees a market potential in this," says Sophia Bennett, communications officer at Region Skåne to Swedish business daily, Dagens Industri.

But yet, it is unclear how the Region Skåne is reacting to the Chinese offer. Lennart Serder reacted by saying that it looks like something interesting that can inspire and demonstrate various funding opportunities. Before anything, first the profitability of the project has to be assessed and determined before any conclusion can be jumped into given that the loan will have to be paid back.
by Scancomark.com Team

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