This 'China to build #HS2 ' story has got more coverage than I expected. Here are some reasons why it won't work (thread)
Firstly, as the letter from Chinese contractor CRCC indicates, the Chinese way is to do a deal privately and bilaterally with a government to build an infrastructure project. They do this a fair bit in Africa. So far, Chinese contractors have been shy of taking part in 2/
...open competitions to win big infra contracts. Perhaps they don't like having their bids scrutinised too much? Anyway in the UK we are bound by EU law (still) and government guidelines, which would rule out handing the entire project to a contractor with no contest 2/
And of course doing that would mean tearing up the existing contracts with British and other contractors, who would probably sue. British businesses would take the hit and British jobs would be in danger. What's more, CRCC is offering to build #HS2 with a different design 3/
with a higher capacity, which would mean also tearing up existing design, creating new legislation and getting it through Parliament all over again. That alone would take years - so idea that CRCC can build this in five years sounds implausible 4/
CRCC also offers to provide 80% of the 'funding' (they mean loans to finance construction). Chinese state banks do provide v cheap loans to state companies but still it's not clear that this would be cheaper than UK govt borrowing (which is also exceptionally cheap right now) 5/
Giving this project to a major Chinese contractor would probably mean the supply chain and much of the skilled labour would be Chinese too. That probably doesn't do anything for the government's industrial strategy. 6/
Plus, that CRCC letter does not provide the full picture on terms and conditions Chinese would probably ask for. They might e.g. ask for UK govt guarantees and exclusive right to operate (and maybe buy?) the #HS2 line in exchange - they have form on this /ends
Okay 1 more thing... As I say, Chinese have tried in the past to make a grab for whole of #HS2 and failed. Also, govt prev. looked at giving project to one big contractor & said no. What happens if dispute arises and govt wants to terminate contract - nobody else cd replace them
