While Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan has acknowledged that China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) was banned by the World Bank, but argued that the blacklisting had no bearing on Malaysia's East Coast Rail Link (ECRL).

"The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project is not a road or a bridge project and is not funded by the World Bank. Therefore the World Bank sanction does not apply to CCCC's participation in the ECRL project," he clarified in a statement.

Furthermore, the minister noted that the company had shown that it can do good work.

"CCCC Group of Companies have successful track records for projects in Malaysia including the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge (second Penang Bridge) completed in 2014.

He also pointed out that CCCC was also awarded a RM2 billion reclamation project by a joint-venture company of the Penang government.

The minister was responding to reports quoting his answer to a question about the matter on Thursday.

The New Straits Times reported yesterday that Rahman Dahlan denied that CCCC was blacklisted by the World Bank, adding that only its subsidiary, the China Road and Bridge Company (CRBC), was banned.

The Dewan Negara Hansard showed Rahman was answering a question from Selangor senator Mohd Nor Monutty.

Today, Rahman admitted that CCCC was also banned after new World Bank policy in 2011 required that successor organisations to be subject to the same sanctions applied to the original company.

He recounted that CRBC was banned by the World Bank following alleged improprieties in a project in the Philippines funded by the global financial entity.

CRBC later merged with several other firms to form the CCCC.

"This sanction will end in a month's time on Jan 12, 2017," he noted, hoping that this would clarify the issue to prevent any misleading information from certain quarters.