Completed Development AidData Chinese Aid

China Eximbank provides RMB 550 million concessional loan for Vinh-Ho Chi Minh City Railway Signal Modernization Project

¥550K RMB

Funder	Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank)
Recipient Organization	Vietnam Ministry of Finance
Country	Viet Nam
Start Date	Oct 31, 2005
End Date	Jan 14, 2030
Duration	8,841 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`34683`

Grant Description

China Eximbank provides RMB 550 million concessional loan for Vinh-Ho Chi Minh City Railway Signal Modernization Project On October 31, 2005, China Eximbank and the Vietnam Ministry of Finance signed an RMB 550 million concessional loan agreement for the Vinh-Ho Chi Minh City Railway Signal Modernization Project.

📋 Loan / Grant Terms

💹 Interest Rate3%

🔁 Repayment Period15 years

The borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the loan to finance an RMB 507 million commercial (EPC) contract between China Railway Sixth Group, Co., Ltd. and Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR), which was signed on September 27, 2006.

The project involved the laying of 1,150 km of fiber optic cable and a 1,577 km specialized coaxial cable between Vinh City and Ho Chi Minh City (along a stretch of the North - South Railway, which is also known as the Đường sắt Bắc Nam). It also involved the installation of electric switchboard, video conferencing, and PC systems at 54 railway stations.

The project officially commenced on December 26, 2008.

Implementation was subsequently delayed by 7-years due to problems with the EPC contractor, China Railway Sixth Group, Co., Ltd.. As of 2014, work resumed on the project.

Then, on December 31, 2019, a Vietnam State Audit was released and it noted that, at the time of the audit, the project was completed, but there were problems with the Vinh City-Ho Chi Minh City signaling system not aligning with other railway signaling systems in the area.

📋 Staff Comments

This project is also known as the Thong Nhat railway signal system for the Hanoi-Dong Dang line Project, the Vinh City-Ho Chi Minh City line Project, the Modernizing Railway Signaling System from Vinh-Ho Chi Minh City Section Project, the Railway signal information modernization of Vinh - Saigon railway Project, and Phase I of the Thong Nhat railway line Project.
The Vietnamese project title is Xe lửa VN, hệ thống tín hiệu từ Vinh vào TPHCM or dự án Hiện đại hóa thông tin tín hiệu đường sắt đoạn Vinh – TP.HCM, tuyến đường sắt Bắc – Nam or dựng Dự án Hiện đại hóa thông tin tín hiệu đường sắt đoạn Vinh – TP HCM, tuyến Bắc – Nam VN or Dự án Hiện đại hoá hệ thống thông tin tín hiệu đường sắt đoạn Vinh - thành phố Hồ Chí Minh vào.
The Chinese project title is 铁路线荣市至胡志明市段通信信号现代化改造项目 or 建的越南铁路通信信号现代化项目 or 越南荣市—西贡铁路通号现代化项目.
The China Eximbank loan that supported this project is not included in the Overseas Development Finance Dataset that Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center published in December 2020.
This China Eximbank loan is not a duplicate of Project #34474. Both capture 2005 concessional loans over RMB 500 million for railway signal projects in Vietnam, but these are actually two separate loans for two distinct projects (see 'Aiding Transparency,' p. 7).
The borrowing terms of the loan are derived from the source titled 'Assessing China's Impact on Poverty in the Greater Mekong Subregion.' Even though the table on page 199 says the loan is just '50 million yuan', this is probably a type of '550 million yuan.' AidData has not identified any evidence for another 50 million RMB loan for this project.

📚 Sources & References

China finances Vietnam railway project
Scandal-hit Vietnam Railways removed from managing ODA-funded projects
Thong Nhat Railway line (Vinh - Ho Chi Minh) communication signal modernization project in Vietnam officially started the first phase
Vietnamese Politics: China - Vietnam Relations and TPP
Viet Nam
China strive for a target of 15 billion USD in trade value
MoT takes over control of railway projects
越南铁路主干线交由中国改造终点直达胡志明市
中越签署越南铁路干线现代化改造合同
HIỆN ĐẠI HOÁ THÔNG TIN TÍN HIỆU ĐƯỜNG SẮT ĐOẠN VINH-SÀI GÒN
TUYẾN ĐƯỜNG SẮT THỐNG NHẤT
GIAI ĐOẠN I
对外投资合作国别（地区）指南越南 2018版
对外投资合作国别（地区）指南越南 2017版
中越合作改造越南铁路干线项目商务合同签署
Impact of China's Rise on the Mekong Region - Yose Santasombat, 3 dự án tín hiệu đường sắt: Lụt tiến độ nhiều năm, đội vốn hàng nghìn tỷ đồng
Tiếng thở dài tại 3 dự án tín hiệu đường sắt
Việt Nam mượn của Trung Quốc bao nhiêu?, 14 văn kiện hợp tác Việt Nam - Trung Quốc
中铁六局承建的越南铁路通信信号现代化项目开工
Aiding Transparency: What We Can Learn About China ExIm Bank’s Concessional Loans, ĐẦU TƯ ODA CỦA TRUNG QUỐC CHO VIỆT NAM GIAI ĐOẠN TỪ NĂM 1992 ĐẾN NĂM 2006: THỰC TRẠNG VÀ NHỮNG BẤT CẬP
Assessing China's Impact on Poverty in the Greater Mekong Subregion
China Overseas Development Finance Loan applications and disbursements are still being received and processed as the projects continue to evolve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are in place to ensure project continuity.