With Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff as witnesses, representatives of China and Brazil signed cooperation documents on a feasibility study on a South American transcontinental railway Tuesday.[Special coverage]
In a joint statement issued by China and Brazil after visiting Premier Li held talks with President Rousseff, the two countries welcome the launch of a joint study on the feasibility of building a railway connecting the Brazilian Atlantic coast with the Peruvian Pacific coast.
The Brazilian government said in the statement that it welcomes China as a bidder for railway projects in Brazil, particularly those related to the proposed transcontinental railway linking the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts.
The mega project, which is still in its initial phases, came 10 months after China, Brazil and Peru pledged concerted efforts to build a railway that runs across the South American continent, during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Brazil in July 2014.
The project is expected to improve transport infrastructure on this continent, facilitate regional economic integration and promote the economic connection between Latin America and China.
IMPROVE TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
The railway from Brazil to Peru, which would be the first one to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on the continent, is believed to boost railway infrastructure construction in the region.
The proposed route, which extends about 5,000 km, includes 2,000 km of existing railway and 3,000 km that needs to be constructed.
The transcontinental railway project will definitely boost the railway infrastructure construction in South America, especially Brazil, said Hsia Huasheng, an expert at Getulio Vargas Foundation, a top think tank in Latin America.
Brazil, the biggest economy in South America, has been relying on road networks for the transportation of agricultural products from its western part, which has increased the price of agricultural exports and affected its international competitiveness.
Railway networks, meanwhile, which are mainly in the south, southeast and northeast of Brazil, account for only 24 percent of the total capacity of the nation's current transportation system. About 35 percent of the railway system was built 60 years ago.
Li's visit is being seen as a major opportunity to drum up support for such projects. As Brazil's largest trade partner, China invested 18.94 billion U.S. dollars in the South American country in 2014.
Brazilians are betting Chinese investment will help accomplish infrastructure projects Brazil's government is too cash-strapped to take on, the regional daily O Estado de Sao Paulo said Tuesday.
For its part, China will win many opportunities in this region's coming infrastructure construction boom with its technology, capital advantages and rich global experiences, Hsia said.
Chinese railway technology has already entered this land and promoted the infrastructure development in the region.
In April 2014, the Tinaco-Anaco railway of Venezuela, the first high-speed railway in Latin America, entered the phase of laying tracks. The 462-km railway, designed to operate at the speed of 220 km per hour, is constructed by China Railway Engineering Corporation, with a total investment of 7.5 billion dollars.
In Argentina, China South Railway (CSR) has been one of the main equipment providers to its railway market since 2006. At the end of 2014, CSR won the order at a value of 274 million dollars to provide locomotives and freight trains to refurbish the Belgrano Cargas cargo rail network, which serves 17 of Argentina's 24 provinces.
