China's Governor Wang Yi will visit Vietnam in response to the invitation of the Vietnamese side. It is reported that the visit will focus on important issues related to railway construction between China and Vietnam. Vietnam, for its part, appears to have had some problems with Japan, so it has turned back to its northern neighbor, China, in the hope of receiving support to upgrade its railway infrastructure. Against this backdrop, during Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Vietnam, the two countries will have in-depth discussions on railway cooperation.
At the moment, it is not clear exactly which railway construction issues will be discussed, but the discussion may involve a railway connecting Vietnam's central and western major rare earth-producing regions, as well as a railway connecting the country's northern ports, according to relevant sources. Although foreign media mainly focus on the rare earth issue in Vietnam, the construction of the China-Vietnam railway itself also has many highlights.
Vietnam's domestic railway infrastructure is in dire need of upgrades, with more than 3,000 kilometers of railways currently in force, but most of them use French colonial 1,000 mm gauge, resulting in slow train travel and limited load capacity. Vietnam's geographical conditions further limit rail transport capacity. For example, the North-South Railway, which connects Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, has a total length of 1,726 kilometers, an average speed of only 50 kilometers per hour, and a journey time of more than 32 hours.
As the economy grows, Vietnam feels that the existing old railway system cannot meet the economic needs and must build a new railway network. However, Vietnam lacks neither the technical and engineering capabilities, nor the sufficient funds. Therefore, Vietnam seeks to bring in investment and technology from other countries.
Initially, Vietnam considered cooperating with Japan in the hope of building a high-speed railway from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. However, this cooperation has not been able to make substantial progress due to disagreements on issues such as funding and construction standards. In January, Vietnam again asked Japan for help in building a high-speed railway, but was met with ambiguity. For 17 years, the railway project has not been able to move forward substantially, and Vietnam has been dragged down by Japan.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, after visiting neighboring Laos, may have been inspired by the smooth operation of the China-Laos railway and reconsidered the construction of the north-south high-speed railway. With Japan's ambiguity, Vietnam has stepped up its engagement with China. At the end of May this year, Vietnam's Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thanh visited China and held several meetings with Chinese state ministries and state-owned enterprises to discuss strengthening railway cooperation. In October this year, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, which China assisted Indonesia, was opened to traffic, which attracted the attention of neighboring countries, especially Vietnam, which has the need to build high-speed rail.
For China, helping Vietnam strengthen its railway infrastructure will not only help China and Vietnam economic and trade exchanges, but also promote the construction of the eastern line of the Trans-Asian Railway and promote the construction of the "Belt and Road". Therefore, as long as Vietnam proposes to deepen cooperation, China should respond positively. Possible forms of cooperation include limited cooperation at first, the construction of branch lines that are more advanced than existing railway lines but with less investment, and gradually deepening cooperation.
Regardless of the mode of cooperation, the geopolitical considerations demonstrated by Vietnam** through rail infrastructure have materially influenced infrastructure and economic development planning. It is hoped that Vietnam's "change of heart" will create more opportunities for China and Vietnam.
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