A Chinese state-owned company will be footing the bill for a €4 million feasibility study on the construction of a bridge between Malta and Gozo, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced this afternoon.

The relevant agreement was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech and a vice-president of the China Communications Construction Corporation (CCCC). The study is expected to take around 15 months to complete.

CCCC itself approached the government with its proposal, and not the other way round.

But Dr Muscat stressed that the agreement does not oblige Malta to engage the company to build the bridge if it is found feasible, adding that this was made clear to the Chinese authorities.

According to CCCC's vice-president, the reasons behind the company’s generosity were two-fold: its interest in Malta as a business opportunity, and its – and China’s – long-standing ties with Malta.

In 1972 – Malta had just recognised the People’s Republic of China as the government of China that year – the CCCC was brought in to build the so-called “Red China Dock,” funded through a non-interest loan granted by the PRC.

The previous government had been considering the construction of a tunnel between the two islands, and had launched the tender process for a full feasibility study. A pre-feasibility study has already been carried out.

Dr Muscat confirmed that this study would still go ahead, and said that the government did not rule out any option – including an air link – to increase connectivity between Malta’s two main islands.

A public consultation process would follow once the relevant studies are carried out, he said, adding that this would naturally give particular weight to Gozitans’ opinions on the issue.

Arguably the cheapest bridge option would be to build two smaller bridges and pass through Comino, which could have a severe impact on the environment of the Natura 2000 site. But connecting Malta and Gozo through Comino has been ruled out by the government, although the visual impact would obviously remain.