Vietnam premier aims to ‘quicken’ railway projects with China

VIETNAM’S Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh wants to “quicken” progress on three proposed cross-border railway lines linking Vietnam and China, according to a posting on the Vietnam government’s website.

Chinh urged hastening the projects in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics Summit in Russia, according to the statement.

China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner, and the two sides want to tighten commercial ties while navigating long-standing territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Vietnam’s plans call for cross-border lines connecting China’s Yunnan province to Vietnam’s northern port city of Haiphong and China’s Dongxing City to Haiphong. It also wants a railway between Vietnam’s border province of Lang Son to Hanoi, Vietnamese media have reported.

Xi told Chinh he would instruct relevant Chinese agencies to increase China-Vietnam transportation connections, according to the posting.

Chinh also expressed a willingness to coordinate with Brics member countries to further boost the role of developing countries in handling global peace and development issues, according to the post. BLOOMBERG