Malaysia and China finalize railway deal rework

Talks over the refinancing of a $20 billion East Coast Rail Link in Malaysia are “in the last mile”, according to a government official, just a month after the Mahathir administration cancelled the project.

Negotiations were re-opened after China expressed willingness to cut the cost and size of the rail project, the FT reports, which it considers an important feather in its widely-publicized Belt and Road Initiative.

“We understand that China understands our constraint and they are quite willing to scale down…the size of the project and also the cost of the project,” said Saifuddin Abdullah, Malaysian minister of foreign affairs.

Official discussions will continue next week to determine the final arrangements of the deal.