U.S. company XpressWest has decided to end its joint venture with China Railway International (CRI) due to performance and regulatory issues.

The project, which involved the construction of a high-speed rail link between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, was called off less than nine months after the venture was formed. XpressWest has cited delays as one of the main reasons for terminating the collaboration.

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Toney Marnell, CEO of XpressWest said that his company's "ambitions outpace CRI's ability to move the project forward timely and efficiently".

The move comes as a blow to Chinese companies that hoped to gain a foothold in the staggering U.S. high-speed rail market.

It is understood that CRI also faced issues "obtaining required authority to proceed with required development activities."

CRI comprises of a consortium of companies including China State Construction Engineering, CRRC and the state-owned China Railway Group while Las Vegas developer Marnell Companies founded XpressWest.

The agreement was signed in September last year and a $100 million dollars were already pumped into the project, which has been valued at $5 billion.

XpressWest also stated that the project faced difficulties complying with the federal requirement that high-speed trains should be manufactured in the United States and urged the government to adopt a "more flexible and realistic approach to support high-speed rail."

Chinese news outlet Xinhua called referred to the move as "irresponsible" and criticized XpressWest for making a "unilateral" announcement.

China is currently looking to collaborate with a host of other countries, including the U.K., Australia and Iran for similar projects and is known for building the world's largest high-speed rail network in less than a decade.

TagsXpressWest, high-speed rail, China Railways International, China State Construction Engineering, China Railway Group, CRRC, high-speed rail project, US, china