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Beijing steps up efforts in Trans-Asian Railway development
2015-10-25 09:11 (GMT+8)
A bridge under construction on the Trans-Asian Railway line in Kunming, Yunnan province, Sept. 29. (Photo/Xinhua)
Beijing is confident that political and financial obstacles to accelerating the development of the Eurasian Trans-Asian Railway will be overcome, reports the Beijing-based China Economic Weekly.
China has more than enough reasons to speed up progress since the railway offer great opportunities to tap into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes 11 countries and a population of 1.9 billion. ASEAN has surpassed Japan to become China's largest trading partner and bilateral trade amounted to 13% of world trade in 2010.
The railway's route through Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi to Kunming is already under construction, said an official with Kunming's railway bureau. The section between Kunming and Mengzi, also in Yunnan province, has been completed, and the other sections between Mengzi to the province's Hekou Yao autonomous county are scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. The sections are expected to facilitate regional trade and boost local tourism.
Kunming, Yunnan's provincial capital, will become a transportation hub after the Trans-Asian Railway is completed. China's National Development and Reform Commission approved three more lines between Kunming and areas near the border between China and Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Indonesia last year, the report said.
Although most of the countries that the Trans-Asian Railway passes through have existing railways, they have differences in track gauge. Goods have to be unloaded from a train to another when the gauge changes. Wang Mengshu, vice chief engineer of China Railway Tunnel Group, said the existed railways should be modified with Chinese technology and equipment and adapt China's standard gauge. Beijing regulated the gauge in the high-speed railways' design guides it released in February this year and has been promoting it to other countries that have used China's high-speed railway technology such as Malaysia, Singapore, India and Russia.
Political unrest in Thailand over the past few years has also been an obstacle impeding the rail's development since many of its routes go through that country. Premier Li Keqiang called for an early start to a Beijing-backed rail line running through Thailand during his meeting with Thailand's foreign minister, Don Pramudwinai, on Oct. 9. China's ties with Laos facilitated the construction of the railway's lines in Laos, said Wang. The section has been built and funded by China.
The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will provide the much-needed funds for the construction of the railway, said Wang. According to the World Bank, middle and low-income countries have only invested US$400 billion on infrastructure but Asia needed to spend US$8.22 trillion over the next ten years. The gap between the existing investment and the funds needed is the reason that other countries joined in the AIIB, the weekly said.
@AndrewJin , @cirr , @Shotgunner51
2015-10-25 09:11 (GMT+8)
A bridge under construction on the Trans-Asian Railway line in Kunming, Yunnan province, Sept. 29. (Photo/Xinhua)
Beijing is confident that political and financial obstacles to accelerating the development of the Eurasian Trans-Asian Railway will be overcome, reports the Beijing-based China Economic Weekly.
China has more than enough reasons to speed up progress since the railway offer great opportunities to tap into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes 11 countries and a population of 1.9 billion. ASEAN has surpassed Japan to become China's largest trading partner and bilateral trade amounted to 13% of world trade in 2010.
The railway's route through Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi to Kunming is already under construction, said an official with Kunming's railway bureau. The section between Kunming and Mengzi, also in Yunnan province, has been completed, and the other sections between Mengzi to the province's Hekou Yao autonomous county are scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. The sections are expected to facilitate regional trade and boost local tourism.
Kunming, Yunnan's provincial capital, will become a transportation hub after the Trans-Asian Railway is completed. China's National Development and Reform Commission approved three more lines between Kunming and areas near the border between China and Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Indonesia last year, the report said.
Although most of the countries that the Trans-Asian Railway passes through have existing railways, they have differences in track gauge. Goods have to be unloaded from a train to another when the gauge changes. Wang Mengshu, vice chief engineer of China Railway Tunnel Group, said the existed railways should be modified with Chinese technology and equipment and adapt China's standard gauge. Beijing regulated the gauge in the high-speed railways' design guides it released in February this year and has been promoting it to other countries that have used China's high-speed railway technology such as Malaysia, Singapore, India and Russia.
Political unrest in Thailand over the past few years has also been an obstacle impeding the rail's development since many of its routes go through that country. Premier Li Keqiang called for an early start to a Beijing-backed rail line running through Thailand during his meeting with Thailand's foreign minister, Don Pramudwinai, on Oct. 9. China's ties with Laos facilitated the construction of the railway's lines in Laos, said Wang. The section has been built and funded by China.
The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will provide the much-needed funds for the construction of the railway, said Wang. According to the World Bank, middle and low-income countries have only invested US$400 billion on infrastructure but Asia needed to spend US$8.22 trillion over the next ten years. The gap between the existing investment and the funds needed is the reason that other countries joined in the AIIB, the weekly said.
@AndrewJin , @cirr , @Shotgunner51
