China, Japan vie to build high-speed rail for Indonesia connecting major cities on Java

Indonesia's top development official says the government is studying proposals from China and Japan to build a high-speed rail line and expects to announce the outcome later this month.

Andrinof Chaniago, the national development planning minister, told reporters Tuesday that a decision on which proposal to accept will be made in about two weeks.

The high-speed rail, which will connect the capital Jakarta to Bandung, is part of Indonesia's 750-kilometer (466-mile) high-speed train project that will cut across three provinces on the main island of Java and end in the country's second largest city of Surabaya.

Officials have said that the final proposals made by China and Japan followed intense high-level lobbying efforts as the two countries compete for political and commercial influence in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.