Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (left) and visiting Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong review a guard of honor during the welcoming ceremony in Sanya, Hainan province before the Boao Forum for Asia 2014 April 8, 2014. [Photo by Wu Zhiyi/chinadaily.com.cn]
China and Laos pledged on Tuesday to speed up negotiations on railway construction, with an aim of signing agreements "as soon as possible".
An intergovernmental agreement on railways is highly desirable in promoting connections between the two neighboring countries, Premier Li Keqiang and visiting Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong announced after meeting in Sanya, Hainan province.
Li characterized the Sino-Laos railway as the focus of a major ongoing cooperative effort, and said that China hopes an agreement can be reached "as soon as possible" to set the stage for even more.
Thongsing said Laos also wants to see the rail project yield concrete results soon, as it will enhance cooperation in other sectors.
Laos is one of China's prime target markets, as the world's second-largest economy actively promotes its railway technology and construction expertise overseas.
A rail line connecting Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, with Laos is included in China's medium-and long-term railway network plans, according to China Railway Corp.
The Export-Import Bank of China agreed to provide loans for the construction of a rail line linking the border cities in Yunnan to the Laotian capital, Vientiane, the Vientiane Times quoted Laotian Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad as saying.
Both Li and Thongsing Thammavong will attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2014, which takes place from April 8 to 11.
Founded in 2001, the BFA is a nongovernmental and nonprofit international organization committed to regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals.
China increases 2014 railway investment
China will increase railway fixed asset investment to 720 billion yuan (US$117.09 billion) in 2014, Sheng Guangzu, general manager of the China Railway Corporation (CRC), has revealed.
In today's People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, Sheng said the corporation was increasing investment to meet demand. Forty-nine new projects and over 7,000 kilometers of new railway lines will be put into operation this year.
The former plan set at the beginning of the year targeted 700 billion yuan of fixed asset investment, 44 new projects and 6,600 kilometers of new railway lines, according to the CRC.
Sheng said that 78 percent of all construction investment will be in central and western regions, which will have 86 percent of this year's newly operated railways.
According to a five-year plan from 2011 to 2015, 230,000 kilometers of new railway lines will be built in central and western regions, with an investment of 1.85 trillion yuan. >>>More
Rail link to Laos to help boost communication and economic status
Like most of his 6.5 million countrymen, Mr. Galong Vue has never seen or set foot on a train.
However, the 53-year-old farmer knows all about the high-speed railway from China that will run through his village in north-west Laos.
"We first heard that the railway would come through here in 2010," he said.
"Then the Chinese came to survey the land last year. They told me the railway will happen for sure and a train station will be built here."
Some time this year, Mr Vue's village will be gone, replaced by a state-of-the-art railway station capable of accommodating trains that cruise at 193 kph.
China has long dreamed of a high-speed railway connecting it to South-east Asia, enabling more accessible communication and more constant trade contact between China and ASEAN neighbors. >>>More
