China firm starts work on Argentine railway project
The Argentina Belgrano cargo railway project, which is being funded by China, has begun construction, said the project's general contractor, China Machinery Engineering Corp, yesterday.
The contract value of the cargo railway project, to be built in two years, amounts to US$2.47 billion.
In July, a syndicate comprising China Development Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Argentina's Ministry of Economy and Public Finance signed an agreement to provide a supplemental loan to the project.
Under the terms of the project, CMEC is responsible for the renovation of about 1,500km of railroad and the supply of equipment.
The company said in a statement it had received all advanced payments for the project and obtained the relevant insurance policy issued by the China Export and Credit Insurance Corp.
Meanwhile, the reported the proposed merger of state-owned trainmakers China CNR Corp and CSR Corp might be approved within two weeks and CNR might be delisted.
The report, quoting an unnamed source, said the proposal with the biggest chance of obtaining approval was CSR issuing shares to absorb the assets of CNR.
It also said there would be a significant change in the management and personnel arrangement after the merger.
A state-owned enterprise under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission is normally managed by nine senior executives.
CNR and CSR have 17 senior management executives between them, which means some of them might have to go after the merger.
Shares of CNR and CSR have been suspended from trading since October 27. They were last dealt at HK$7.66 and HK$7.89, respectively.
