(Dec 26): A consortium led by China Railway Corp (CRC) including at least eight companies such as China Communications Construction Co Ltd, China Investment Corp and the Export-Import Bank of China intends to submit a proposal for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail project, Caixin reported.

A deputy general manager of CRC, Huang Min, will lead the consortium to work on a proposal, which has not been submitted yet, the CRC staffer told Caixin

China Railway is very confident about the Chinese consortium’s chances, sources close to the state-owned operator told Caixin.

According to Caixin, the Chinese consortium’s planned high-speed rail proposal will emphasize China’s main strengths in railway construction, including the fact that it is the only country to have experience building a high-speed railway in the tropics (in Hainan province), sources said.

Chinese railway companies already have a significant presence in Southeast Asia. CRRC Corp, a member of the consortium and the world’s largest rolling stock manufacturer, makes more than 70% of the trains used in Malaysia, a CRRC staffer told Caixin. On Aug 9, construction began on Malaysia’s RM55 billion East Coast Rail Link, which China Communications Construction is building.

Malaysia’s MyHSR Corp and Singapore’s SG HSR Private Ltd announced last Wednesday that they would be accepting bids for a railway “assets company” until June 2018.

The assets company will be tasked with designing, building, financing and maintaining the trains, tracks and communications systems for the high-speed railway, which is expected to be completed by 2026.