By Li Shouen, CCTV.com Reporter
On August 9, construction of the 688-kilometer East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) contracted with China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) officially began in Kuantan, the largest city on Malaysia's east coast.
Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong, and head of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China’s State Council Xiao Yaqing attended the opening ceremony.
(A sector of ECRL model showcased at the opening ceremony Photo from Xinhua)
The RM55 billion infrastructure project is China's largest overseas project under construction and by far the largest single project under China's Belt & Road Initiative. It would also be a "super project" in Malaysia as well as in Southeast Asia in the following several years.
The ECRL starts north of Kuala Lumpur at Gombak to Kota Bharu via the East Coast Economic Region, namely Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan states. It will carry both passengers and freight with designed speeds of 160kph and 80kph respectively, from the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia to its East Coast and vice versa.
The rail link includes 65km of tunnels and 100km of bridges, which amounts to around 33 percent of the whole project. The tunnelling works will be carried out along the Gombak-Bentong area, where the single-longest twin hill-tunnel spanning 18km will be built under the Titiwangsa Mountains. There will also be several underground lines, including in the heavily-populated Gombak area.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that the project would not only bring a 1.5 percent increase to the country's GDP (gross domestic product), but also boost bilateral ties between the two nations, and also enhance Malaysia's role in the S.E. Asia region.
China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), incorporated in October 2006, principally engages in the design and construction of transportation infrastructure, dredging and heavy machinery manufacturing business.
It is the largest port construction and design company in China, a leading company in road and bridge construction and design, a leading railway construction company, the largest dredging company in China and the second-largest dredging company (in terms of dredging capacity) in the world. The company is also the world's largest container crane manufacturer.
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