Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today defended the government's decision to take an RM55 billion soft loan for the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) from a China bank.

"The long-term loan that we received from China is on a very, very competitive basis," Najib said when attending an economic forum in Kuala Lumpur.

The government has courted controversy for awarding the project to China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).

Back in March, the Finance Ministry had said that the project had to be executed by the CCCC if it were to qualify for financing from the China Export Import Bank...