pressing infrastructure needs in outlying underdeveloped islands outside of Java. Japanese domination in high-speed rail project appeared to be unchallenged until April 2015, when China made a counter-offer. In March 2015, Joko Widodo traveled to Tokyo and Beijing. In Tokyo, from 22 to 25 March, Joko Widodo met then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Widodo obtained a commitment for Japanese loan support for improving Jakarta's municipal rail network, but no progress was made on resolving issues with the Jakarta–Bandung high-speed rail project. China's bid On 26 March 2015, Joko Widodo visited Beijing and met China's leader Xi Jinping. Xi publicly announced support for the Indonesian high-speed project and the two governments signed a memorandum specifying China's interest in the Jakarta–Bandung line. In April 2015, China submitted a bid for the Indonesian high-speed rail project, much to Japan's dismay. In July 2015, the Indonesian government released its plan to build the high-speed rail connecting Jakarta and Bandung, and arranged a contest between Japanese and Chinese train-makers as potential bidders. China responded by launching the Chinese High-speed Rail Technology Exposition in Senayan City shopping mall in Jakarta in August 2015. Both China and Japan have engaged in a fierce competition through intense lobbying. It was said that the fundamental reason is geostrategy, rather than economics. Short cancellation President Joko Widodo was expected to announce the winning bid of Indonesia's first high-speed rail project in early September 2015. However, on 3 September 2015 the Indonesian government announced that it had cancelled the high-speed rail project, and was now favoring the slower and cheaper rail alternative. It was said that the government turned to semi-high-speed rail. President Joko Widodo preferred a "business-to-business" (as opposed to "government-to-government") approach. This might signify government unwillingness to partially fund or financially guarantee this costly project. Bid winner In mid-September 2015, China said it would fully meet the Indonesian government's demands and offered a new proposal that did not require Indonesia to assume any fiscal burden or debt guarantee in proceeding with the project. Later that month, Indonesia selected China for the $5 billion project. Commentators speculated that Beijing had outmaneuvered Tokyo on the bid as a result of a competitive financing package for Indonesia. Japan's then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called the Indonesian move "difficult to understand" and "extremely regrettable". The situation "can only be described as extremely deplorable," Suga also said. Indonesia's State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno confirmed