What’s new: Chinese Premier Li Qiang took a test ride Wednesday as Indonesia finally completed a long-delayed high-speed rail line built with Chinese assistance.
The 40-kilometer segment of Southeast Asia’s first high-speed line links Jakarta with suburban Karawang. The Jakarta-Karawang segment is part of a 142-kilometer railway linking the capital with the tourism city of Bandung. It will cut travel time to around 40 minutes from more than 3 hours. Commercial operation of the line is set to start Oct. 1.
The railway is considered a landmark project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Construction took more than seven years amid delays caused by budget overruns and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Li is visiting Jakarta for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three (APT) summit — a gathering of ASEAN members along with China, Japan, and South Korea. The ASEAN nations include Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
“The high-speed railway creates integration, openness and prosperity,” Li said. “It shortens distances and boosts economic development. China is ready to share its experience with Indonesia for the success of the high-speed railway project.”
The context: The Jakarta-Bandung railway represents a key step in the Indonesian government’s infrastructure push and is part of China’s strategy of expanding its presence in the region through the Belt and Road Initiative.
The line is the first overseas rail project to fully use Chinese railway systems, technology and industrial components. From the railway design and engineering construction to operating management, the Jakarta-Bandung railway deploys Chinese technology. The key equipment was made by Chinese enterprises.
Construction was scheduled to begin at the end of 2015, and the project was originally to be completed by 2018 and go into operation in 2019. However, the project was delayed because of higher land acquisition costs, budget overruns and the pandemic.
Total cost of the project is estimated at $7.36 billion, exceeding original plan by nearly $2 billion, according to PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC), the consortium building the railway.
In November, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Joko Widodo witnessed an operational trial of the project on the sidelines of a bilateral meeting following a G-20 Summit in Bali.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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