Important project with such high benefit
President Enrique Pena Nieto “is sensitive to the fact that such an important project with such high benefit for society not raise any doubt,” the Communications and Transportation Ministry said in a statement.
The surprise revocation on Nov. 6 came three days after the project was awarded and ahead of Pena Nieto’s visit to Beijing next week, a trip intended to deepen ties between the two countries. The contract for China Railway Construction Corp. and four Mexican partners marked Mexico’s first large investment in transportation by a Chinese firm.
China Railway Construction tumbled 5.8 percent yesterday, the most since July 2013, to HK$8.02 at the close in Hong Kong. The Beijing-based company said by e-mail that it hadn’t received an official cancellation notice from Mexico. The company can participate in the new round, Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, the transportation minister, said on Radio Formula.
The Chinese-led team was the only group to submit a plan for Mexico’s first high-speed train, which the government says will initially shuttle 27,000 passengers a day between the capital and the industrial hub of Queretaro City in 58 minutes.
The China Railway group plans to bid again in the new round, the Mexico City newspaper El Universal reported today.