On December 8, 2005, Ambassador Li Jinjun, accompanied by North Luzon Railways Corp. (NLPC) President Jose Cortes and other officials, inspected the project sites of North Rail in the Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela area. In a press briefing after the site inspection, Ambassador Li expressed his satisfaction with the work of the clearing of structures along the old railroad tracks of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) to give way to the North Rail Project. Ambassador Li also declared that Chinese technicians from their contractors were set to arrive in the Philippines on Sunday to start revaluating the project sites. He said construction would start as soon as 16 kilometers of the project site from Caloocan to Balagtas had been cleared of structures and settlers.

NLRC President Jose Cortes said the Chinese Ambassador's visit to the actual site showed the Chinese government's resolve to assist the Philippines in acquiring an inexpensive yet efficient mass transportation system.

North rail phase one is a $ 421 million project acquired through a preferential load from China, which means that its interest rates are lower than a commercial loan. It also has longer repayment terms. The Philippine government enjoys a more convenient loan term, by repaying the loan over 20 years instead of the usual 12, with three-percent interest instead of four and 95-percent cover instead of 85, which are the usual loan terms of the Chinese government.