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

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.

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.