An Indonesian diplomat told the Global Times on Friday that the Chinese-invested Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project is proceeding smoothly, denying reports that the project has been suspended.

Santo Darmosumarto, head of the information, social and cultural section at the Indonesian Embassy to China, stressed that "everything is going fine" with the project now.

"The high-speed railway project has come under heavy media attention in Indonesia. As a result, matters which may be usual for any project, such as the need for permits, have become blown out of proportion," he told the Global Times on Friday on the phone.

Talks are now being held on project details, and the project will continue after the talks, an official at Chinese Embassy to Indonesia who asked for anonymity told the Global Times on Friday, confirming that some licenses had not yet been issued.

The Jakarta Post said in a report on Tuesday that the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train project, the first Chinese-backed high-speed rail project in Southeast Asia, had come to an impasse, because the joint-venture company working on the project, Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC), did not have a business permit to operate as a railway infrastructure provider.

China and Indonesia signed the joint-venture agreement in October 2015. The 150-kilometer high-speed railway, which was designed to be travelled at a maximum of 300 kilometers per hour, will shorten travel times from Jakarta to Bandung to less than 40 minutes from three hours. The project is expected to take three years to complete, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

According to The Jakarta Post, KCIC has yet to provide concession agreements that need to be signed by the Indonesian minister of transportation and KCIC representatives. The official said that "some necessary additional data from the KCIC" were still missing.

China Railway Corp, one of the constructors, also denied the report, saying that the project is now under smooth development, according to a statement sent to the Global Times on Friday.

"China and Indonesia will push for the smooth construction of the railway to benefit the Indonesian people and use the project as an opportunity to improve bilateral practical cooperation," Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a daily briefing on Friday.

According to a statement from the Embassy of Indonesia sent to the Global Times on Friday, the Indonesian government "looks forward to working closely with all stakeholders involved, both in China and Indonesia, to ensure the successful completion of the project."

Darmosumarto noted that the Indonesian government wants this project to be successful as it has become a "top priority" for Jakarta.

The Chinese official in Jakarta, meanwhile, told the Global Times that the company working on the high-speed rail project is holding talks on project details and business permits with the Indonesia government.

Darmosumarto said that it is hard to predict how long it might take to issue the business permits. According to him, it might "take some time" for the company to go through those procedures, but the Indonesian government is likely to issue the permits as soon as possible.

According to the 2013 Transportation Ministry regulation on railways infrastructure business, the KCIC must have "trace alignment permits and concession agreements and demonstrate technical design capability," the Jakarta Post reported.

Despite the negotiations over permits, Darmosumarto stressed that there is no concern that this will lead to a prolonged suspension, as this project is important to both the Chinese and the Indonesian governments.

The statement from the Embassy of Indonesia also stressed that the project has been identified as one of 225 Strategic National Projects in Indonesia and that Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the project on January 21, 2016. 

Xinhua reported on Friday that attitudes toward the high-speed train project are "varied" in Indonesia, but Widodo and local governments have supported the project, as the project will increase land value and generate new real estate projects.

Huang Wei, director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday that all countries have their own regulations for investment projects.

"Chinese companies that attempt to invest abroad should study those regulations as well as psychologically prepare for the fact that their investment would meet difficulties locally,"  Huang said.

But she noted that Indonesia is very "friendly" to China and has relatively sound investment environment for Chinese investors.