China is planning high-speed rail links with its Southeast Asian neighbors, namely, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, and further expand its economic and strategic regional influence.
China's national rail network, which is already the world's biggest, will reach 120,000 km by 2020. Sixty percent of the railway lines will be located in the western regions, which have historically lagged the coastal east on most development indicators.
In two months, work will begin on a 1,920-km high-speed rail line connecting south-western Yunnan province with Yangon in Myanmar, with trains running at over 200 km/h, the official China Daily reported on Monday.
Studies were also under way to link Yunnan's capital Kunming with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the daily quoted Wang Mengshu, one of China's leading railway consultants, as saying.
In August, China's Ministry of Railways also sent a team to Thailand to explore investing in a $25.6 billion, 240-km high-speed railway and rail network.
Wang had earlier said that the Southeast Asian network could be completed as early as 2020.
Authorities in Beijing hope the investment in Southeast Asia will also ease anxieties among its ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighbors over the impact of China's rising economic influence.
In two months, work will begin on a 1,920-km high-speed rail line connecting south-western Yunnan province with Yangon in Myanmar, with trains running at over 200 km/h, the official China Daily reported on Monday.
Studies were also under way to link Yunnan's capital Kunming with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the daily quoted Wang Mengshu, one of China's leading railway consultants, as saying.
In August, China's Ministry of Railways also sent a team to Thailand to explore investing in a $25.6 billion, 240-km high-speed railway and rail network.
Wang had earlier said that the Southeast Asian network could be completed as early as 2020.
Authorities in Beijing hope the investment in Southeast Asia will also ease anxieties among its ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighbors over the impact of China's rising economic influence.
source: Press tv
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