A group of Chinese railway companies will work with a rail service company in the US to build a high-speed rail line there for the first time, indicating that US counterparts consider China's technology level has advanced, experts said.

Construction of the 370-kilometer line, which will connect the US cities of Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, will start next fall, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's State visit to the US next week.

The project reportedly needs an estimated investment of $12.7 billion. This is reportedly the first time that a Chinese company has become involved in a high-speed rail project in the US.

China Railway Group, a State-owned rail construction company, will lead a consortium of Chinese firms to team up with XpressWest, a private US rail company, to build and operate a high-speed line via a joint venture in the western US, having inked the deal on Sunday, the report said.

The deal indicates that the US rail industry realizes China's technology level has advanced, Zhong Dajun, director of the Beijing Dajun Institute for Economic Observation, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

The project will also change the US public's view of China and alter the perception of Chinese goods as cheap, low-technology items, Zhong said. "The project marks close economic ties between China and the US and will further deepen cooperation of the two in other areas."

However, some experts said the project was more of a political move than a pure business deal.

Political interests behind the project are carrying more weight than economic interests, said Zhao Jian, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University.

The announcement, along with two other major economic cooperation plans between China and the US, came as Xi is preparing for a State visit to the US next week.

According to Xinhua, China Machinery Engineering Corp signed a deal with US-based GE to develop a clean energy project in Africa and a building energy conservation fund project was set up between a Chinese consortium including China State Construction Engineering Corp and US companies including GE and Goldman Sachs Group.

The Paulson Institute said  on Thursday that during his visit in the US, Xi will attend a meeting with 30 Chinese and US business leaders, including Alibaba Group Holding's founder Jack Ma Yun, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren.