Indonesia's plan to construct its very own high-speed railway system has attracted separate offers from Asia's largest infrastructure giants, China and Japan.

Chinese National Development and Reform chairman Xu Shaoshi arrived in Jakarta on Monday to convince Indonesian President Joko Widodo that China's offer is more attractive than Japan's through a consolidated report on the planned construction.

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"The financial plan that we're offering is very competitive. Our high-speed train technology [back in China] is quite developed," Xu told The Jakarta Globe after his meeting with Joko.

The Japanese government was the first to express interest in helping Indonesia initiate the project. Early reports reveal that the country proposed a $4.4 billion offer. However, during an interview, Indonesian trade minister Rachmat Gobel said the offer was only $3.3 billion.

The billion-dollar offer from Japan could also include a soft loan that would cover a third of the funding, with an interest rate of 0.1 percent that could be paid in 40 years. The payment would only start 11 years after the railway construction begins its operations.

China, on the other hand, is offering a $5.5 billion loan with a 50-year tenure, a 2 percent interest rate and a grace period. The offer is said to be an improved version of an initial proposal - a $4-billion loan with a repayment period of 25 years and a yearly interest rate of 2 percent. China had to "sweeten" its offer due to rumors that Japan might get the deal for being the pioneer of bullet trains in Asia.

The project, according to local economists, would enhance not only the country's transportation system. The development of the Jakarta-Bandung line would also create up to 40,000 jobs until 2018, the completion target for the project. The government also expects a booming market for residential and commercial developers around the area as soon as the deal is approved by the transportation ministry.

The deal would also help boost the country local steel market, which has been enjoying from the focus of national governments since the Yudhoyono administration.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed an ore prohibition bill into law in 2014 to enhance the country's booming mining and steel manufacturing market.

The law prohibits local ore producers from selling their products in foreign markets and encourages mining firms to build their own smelting facilities to "locally" produce steel.

The prohibition has shaken the global mining market, as Indonesia is the biggest unprocessed metals miner in the world.

In 2014, the anxiety over a supply scarcity put industrial metals-nickel, zinc, tin, lead, and aluminum-into a year-long bull market rally. This was also the year when promising mining companies like Amur Minerals (London AIM: AMC) started to gain popularity from metal traders across the globe.

Amur is one of the few companies working on giant mining facilities that could eventually help the looming supply predicament. Its flagship project, the Kun-Manie Reserve, is among the 20 largest metal ore reserves in the world today, and it has a projected ore reserve of 90 million tons.

However, in 2015, the looming supply problem was offset by decreasing demand from China, which pulled base metal prices down. Base metals have been recording weak prices since January this year, and not even the ongoing ban from Indonesia is helping the segment to recover.

Economists say that the crises in Eurozone and Russian region, cheaper oil prices, and stronger American dollar value have contributed to the fact that base metals' prices remain dismal on the global market.

China and Japan, the two bidders in the planned high-speed railway in Indonesia, are also the two biggest unprocessed ore consumers and steelmakers in the world.

TagsIndonesia railway system, China vs Japan, Indonesia railway, high-speed rail in Indonesia, China Development, National Development and Reform Commission, NDRC, China vs Japan war, Japan and China bids on Indonesia project, tin, lead, zinc, base metals, Amur Minerals, miners, BHP Billiton