Vietnam plans 3 railway links with China under Belt and Road Initiative

By Tri Duc, 27-June-2024 | theinvestor

Vietnam is considering three railway routes linking with China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the “Two Corridors, One Belt” initiative, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said Thursday.

Speaking at the Vietnam-China strategic transport infrastructure development cooperation conference held in Beijing, Chinh said the three railway routes under consideration are Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong, Lang Son-Hanoi, and Mong Cai-Ha Long-Hai Phong.

The initial focus would be on the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong route, he added.

The Vietnamese government will ask research agencies to draft an inter-governmental treaty for deployment of the three railway routes with focus on “preferential loans from China with standalone mechanism and technology transfer and workforce training” so that Vietnam can develop its own railway industry, Chinh said.

Vietnam is encouraging Chinese businesses to join metro railway projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City under the public-private partnership (PPP) format, he added.

Dang Sy Manh, chairman of Vietnam’s state-owned Vietnam Railways Corporation, said at the conference that under the railway master plan for 2030, the country aimed to upgrade 2,440 kilometers and construct 2,362 kilometers of new railway routes.

Under another master plan for 2050, the aim is to connect Vietnam’s railway network to the Trans-Asian railway via China and the ASEAN railway network via Laos and Cambodia, he added

He urged Chinese agencies to implement soon the railway-related content under a joint statement released by both countries. Vietnam Railways is looking to cooperate with Chinese railway businesses in equipment, locomotives and trains, Manh emphasized.

PM Chinh called on China to help Vietnam’s traffic infrastructure development with preferential loans, advanced technology, workforce training and management.

He proposed that state-owned and private businesses in China join construction, digitalization, transportation, green transformation and renewable energy projects in Vietnam.

PM meets President Xi Jinping

PM Chinh, who was on a four-day working trip to China, on Wednesday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He suggested that the two countries cooperate further in building major, iconic projects and speed up railway linkages under the BRI. He also called for more high-quality investments from China.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Beijing, June 26, 2024. Photo courtesy of the government’s news portal.

Chinh also proposed that the two countries enhance cooperation via locality-to-locality ties, establishment of cross-border economic zones, border economic activities and smart border gates.

He emphasized that Vietnam considers developing stable, sustainable and long-term relations with China an objective requirement, strategic choice and top priority in its diplomatic policy.

Xi Jinping said China attaches great importance to, and considers its relationship with Vietnam a priority in its overall neighborhood diplomacy. Both sides should promote substantive cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, better control and handle divergences, and step up coordinating at multilateral forums, thus contributing to development in the region and the world, Xi Jinping said.

He reiterated China’s support for Vietnam to speed up its modernization and industrialization process, and requested Vietnam to work with China and other countries in developing stable and sustainable supply and production chains.

Vietnam rail project seen to boost trade

By Prime Sarmiento, 26-Feb-2025 | ChinaDaily

Planned link will enhance connectivity between SE Asia, China, say analysts

Vietnam’s planned new railway that will link its largest northern port city to the border with China could boost bilateral trade and also serve as a “critical linchpin” in the realization of a pan-Asia railway, analysts say.

Vietnam’s National Assembly approved on Feb 19 an investment plan for the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway project. The project, which is estimated to be worth over $8.3 billion, involves a rail link stretching from Vietnam’s northern port city Hai Phong to Lao Cai, which borders China’s southwest province of Yunnan.

The construction of the railway aims to meet the transport demand between Vietnam and China, according to a report filed by Vietnam News Agency, citing a resolution passed by the Vietnamese parliament.The Vietnam rail venture is the latest project that boosts connectivity between Southeast Asia and China. Early this month, the Thai Cabinet approved the second phase of the high-speed network that will connect Thailand with China through Laos.Rail infrastructure will help bolster trade between China and Southeast Asia as it reduces the transit time as well as the delivery cost, noted Wilson Lee Flores, a political-economic analyst and honorary chairman of the Anvil Business Club in the Philippines.He said time and cost efficiency are especially important for countries in the landlocked Greater Mekong Subregion, expanding their access to the global market.Flores said the Vietnam railway project is “a critical linchpin” in building a pan-Asia rail network. This is because Vietnam’s geographical position makes it a gateway between China and Southeast Asia.”By integrating Vietnam into the broader pan-Asia rail network, the project would enable a more fluid movement of goods, services, and people, thereby amplifying economic opportunities across the region,” he said.

Flores said China’s expertise in high-speed rail technology, coupled with its unparalleled capacity for large-scale infrastructure projects, has enabled the nation to bridge historically inaccessible regions across Asia.

Rise of e-commerce

Linda Tjia Yin Nor, an associate professor in the Department of Public and International Affairs at the City University of Hong Kong, said the rise of e-commerce has pushed the demand for increased connectivity between China and Southeast Asia.

“They need to be part of the entire globalization of e-commerce development,” she said.

Tjia, who has researched Chinese and Japanese railway technology, said China can contribute to the development of a regional rail network in Southeast Asia either through financing or technological transfer.

Nguyen Tuan Duong, chairman of Vietnam Trading Investment Promotion Group, said the Hai Phong Port is the biggest container port in northern Vietnam, and Lao Cai borders Yunnan. As such, the railway will facilitate freight transportation by connecting sea and rail transport.

Duong’s company exports agricultural products to China. It uses sea transport to ship products from southern Vietnam to China, and container trucks to ship from central and northern Vietnam.

“The cost would be very high if we use container trucks so the railway would be the best and most convenient way for shipping agricultural products from central and northern Vietnam to China,” he said.

The Vietnam railway project will span approximately 390.9 kilometers. A new electrified single-track railway line with a 1,435-millimeter gauge will be constructed to accommodate both passenger and freight services.

The Vietnam News Agency reported that Vietnam’s prime minister is authorized to issue government bonds to cover any shortfalls in the annual investment plan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in a briefing on Feb 19 that China and Vietnam have been exchanging views on enhancing railway connectivity.

Guo said the two sides agreed to accelerate the feasibility study on the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong standard gauge railway, speed up the plan compilation of the Dong Dang-Hanoi standard gauge railway and the Mong Cai-Ha Long-Hai Phong standard gauge railway, and advance the work of building a standard gauge railway connection point between Hekou in China and Lao Cai in Vietnam.

Yang Han in Hong Kong contributed to this story. prime@chinadailyapac.com