"Leverage the market to drive technological advancement"China's high-speed rail technology has made an amazing leap forward and is known as China's"The New Four Great Inventions"One of them, and has been highly praised all over the world.
This is inseparable from our independent research and development of cutting-edge technology, which has made China's high-speed rail project widely recognized around the world. For example, Thailand handed over a high-speed rail order worth 44.9 billion yuan to us, and this cooperation not only deepened the friendship between China and Thailand, but also strengthened the mutual trust between us.
Therefore, we have always stood firmly with Thailand and given strong support to it when it is facing difficulties.
Thailand, a well-known tourist destination, is also the first choice for many Chinese vacationers. However, those who have been to Thailand may have noticed that the infrastructure there is relatively backward and in some places even looks a little dilapidated.
Thailand's railway infrastructure is outdated, with a speed of only 60 kilometers per hour, which severely restricts economic development and tourism. As a result, Thailand decided to invest in the construction of high-speed railways and the renovation of existing ones.
Although China's high-speed rail technology is relatively new, Thailand preferred Japan as the builder of the "China-Thailand Railway" project proposed in 2014.
In addition to technical reasons, Thailand has a special favorability towards Japan. During World War II, Thailand, as an ally of Japan, invaded China and other countries. After the end of World War II, with the rapid development of the Japanese economy, they also invested heavily in Thailand to help the Thai economy.
According to some survey data, Thais have a favorable opinion of Japan by more than 90%. Therefore, when Thailand planned to build the Mancheong high-speed railway in 2016, they expressed full trust in Japan's technology.
In the end, Thailand chose to use Japan's Shinkansen technology, and Japan was responsible for the construction of the 700-kilometer high-speed rail project with a total investment of 420 billion baht (about 85.3 billion yuan).
Thailand has been looking forward to China's high-speed rail project, looking forward to improving transportation conditions by investing in the "Man-Chiang high-speed railway" and strengthening economic ties with China. However, at the end of 2017, the Thai side began to rethink the project, arguing that it was too expensive to build, slow to operate, and unable to connect with neighboring countries, which led them to reassess the value of the project.
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Songqi has said that they had thought that the "Man-Chiang high-speed railway" would connect China's Yunnan, but as China has begun to build a project connecting Laos and Thailand, they realize that the importance of the Man-Chiang high-speed railway has diminished, so the project needs to be reviewed.
At the end of 2017, the Shinkansen scandal in Japan was like a ticking time bomb that shocked the world. From cracks in the body of the car to the safety hazards of aluminum products, to the suspension of the operation caused by pet dogs, a series of scandals continued**, making Thailand begin to doubt the level of "Made in Japan".
Although the start of the construction of the Manching high-speed railway has been delayed, Thailand has not stopped pursuing the high-speed railway. On the contrary, in 2018, Thailand decided to launch a high-speed rail project worth more than 40 billion yuan.
Thailand's high-speed rail project, which was approved by the cabinet in March 2018, will connect Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport, Suvarnabhumi Airport and Rayong U-Tapao Airport, with a total length of 220 kilometers and a total investment of about 224.5 billion baht (about 44.9 billion yuan).
The implementation of this project will achieve seamless connection between Thailand's three major airports, reduce travel costs, promote the construction of Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor and promote the development of the regional economy.
It is expected to be completed in 2023 and will have an initial passenger flow of up to 1470,000 people. After the public bidding, China, Japan, as well as European countries such as Germany and France have expressed interest in the project.
According to reports, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has proposed to Thailand that Chinese and Japanese companies should jointly undertake the project in order to strengthen their competitiveness and beat the EU's high-speed rail companies.
In 2019, China won the bid and took over the high-speed rail project. According to Xinhua News Agency, China and Thailand officially signed a cooperation agreement on the project in October 2019, marking the official landing of Thailand's first high-speed rail investment project.
The agreement stipulates that the construction period of the project is 5 years and the operation period is 45 years, which is expected to deepen the cooperation between China and Thailand"The Belt and Road Initiative"The implementation of the initiative will enhance the influence of Chinese enterprises in Southeast Asia, and at the same time, it will also be conducive to the development of Thailand's economy.
According to the estimates of the relevant departments, the project will create 160,000 jobs, which can create about 100,000 jobs during the operation period and drive the urbanization process of the regions along the route, is undoubtedly a project from which both China and Thailand can benefit.
Facts have also proved that Thailand's choice this time is correct. By 2021, the Thai side had completed preparations such as land acquisition, delivered construction land to Chinese contractors, and started pre-construction of the high-speed rail project.
If there are no surprises, the project is expected to be successfully completed and opened to traffic in 2025.
Japan's high-speed rail construction has been unsatisfactory, not only for the Mancheong high-speed rail project, but also for projects in Vietnam and India. For example, the Indian high-speed rail project, which was undertaken in 2017, did not complete the land acquisition until 2021, and is currently only 15%-20% of the project, and there is a risk of delaying completion.
Similarly, Japan's high-speed rail project in Vietnam has not been able to start due to various factors. In contrast, China's high-speed rail projects appear to be progressing well, with the fastest progress to completion.
However, some people are "worried" about this, believing that due to the impact of the epidemic and the weak Thai economy, China may do a "loss-making business". But what is the actual situation?
In 2021, according to a report by Russia**, Thailand hoped to pay 2 million tons of rice as an advance payment due to financial difficulties caused by the epidemic, and our country accepted this cooperation method after weighing it.
Some people think that paying for high-speed rail with rice may be detrimental to our country, but this is not necessarily the case. Actually,"Rice for high-speed rail"It is a plan proposed in the 2013 "Long-term Plan for the Development of Sino-Thai Relations", that is, to offset part of the project costs with Thai agricultural products.
In 2014, the two countries officially signed a memorandum of understanding and opened"Rice for high-speed rail"The cooperation was originally planned for the Sino-Thai railway project.
The China-Thailand Railway, which connects Kunming in China and Bangkok in Thailand, plans to invest 350 billion baht (about 76.2 billion yuan) with a total length of 867 kilometers. It will be connected to the China-Laos-Vientiane Railway, which will be available directly from Thailand to Yunnan, China.
As early as 2015, the two sides signed the relevant agreement, and at the end of that year, the foundation stone was laid for the railway, marking the official start of the project. According to ** report, at the end of 2017, the first phase of the Sino-Thai railway project started construction in a low-key manner, and the first phase of the project will connect Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima in northeastern Thailand, with a total length of 253 kilometers and a design speed of 250 kilometers per hour.
Despite many twists and turns and troubles along the way, China and Thailand finally signed a contract at the end of 2020 with a total amount of 4027.5 billion baht (about 8.7 billion yuan) of the contractor contract.
The agreement states that this contract includes a 101The 15-kilometre-long railway project is expected to be operational by 2025. According to the data, in the original "rice for high-speed rail" plan, Thailand exported 200,000 tons of rice to China every year, and exported a total of 1 million tons of rice to compensate for part of the project cost.
From an economic point of view, this may not be a cost-effective deal, but from the perspective of technology export, market development and promotion of the "Belt and Road", this deal is of great significance to China.
In 2021, Henan suffered from floods, heavy losses of autumn grain, and the flood storage and detention area in Henan was almost wiped out, as much as 2 million tons, China agreed to Thailand to use rice as part of the upfront payment, which has a positive effect on ensuring China's food security.
Some analysts pointed out that this plan will help avoid dollar settlements and break the hegemony of the dollar. Therefore, between China and Thailand"Rice for high-speed rail"plan, which even caused discontent in the United States.
Although the United States is dissatisfied with this, it cannot stop the cooperation between China and Thailand, and can only watch the cooperation between China and Thailand further deepen and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
After Thailand handed over the high-speed rail project connecting the three major airports to China, the process of Sino-Thai cooperation has advanced rapidly. In the first half of 2019, Chinese investment in Thailand reached 24.2 billion baht, a five-fold increase over the same period last year.
This makes Malaysia the second largest investor in Thailand after Japan. In 2019, China's total investment reached 290 billion baht, making it the largest foreign investment country in Thailand and surpassing Japan for the first time.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somche has emphasized that the sharp increase in Chinese investment in Thailand is closely related to the high-speed rail project. The new crown epidemic has swept the world, and Thailand's tourism industry has been hit hard, and the economic pressure is huge.
After our country took the lead in recovering from the epidemic, it strengthened cooperation with Thailand to help Thailand "weather the storm".
China and Thailand have worked closely together in response to the pandemic. As early as March 2020, China provided assistance to Thailand, including anti-epidemic materials such as testing reagents and masks, and discussed anti-epidemic measures together.
*Noted that thanks to China's advanced technology and equipment, Thai hospitals have successfully shortened the virus detection time to 25 seconds and improved accuracy. In addition, China's artificial intelligence technology has also effectively reduced the work pressure of local doctors, which has played a significant role in Thailand's anti-epidemic work.
In November 2021, China provided assistance to Thailand again, and a new batch of anti-epidemic materials such as COVID-19 vaccines and oxygen concentrators have arrived in Thailand. This action has further deepened the anti-epidemic cooperation between the two countries and injected strong strength into Thailand's anti-epidemic work.
In order to solve the problem of unsalable fruits in Thailand, China has strengthened agricultural cooperation with Thailand. According to a report in 2021**, Thai fresh fruit suffered serious losses due to the stranded border due to congestion at China's import ports due to the sharp increase in Thai fruit imports.
To this end, China and Thailand have decided to increase the number of import and export ports between the two countries to 16 to ensure that Thai fruits can pass through the customs smoothly. In addition, data shows that Chinese consumers' love for durian is increasing year by year, so China is also increasing the import of Thai durian.
According to the data of the General Administration of Customs, the import value of fresh durian in China reached 42 in 20210.5 billion US dollars, an increase of 82 percent year-on-year4%, of which more than 90% are from Thailand.
Thailand's durian exports to China account for 89% of its total39%, it can be said that China has bought almost all the durians in Thailand. In addition to durian, the cooperation between China and Thailand in other fields is also deepening.
According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce of China in November 2021, in the first half of 2021, the amount of China and Thailand reached 625900 million US dollars, an increase of 382%, China's direct investment in Thailand and Africa reached 3600 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 339%, and project contracting cooperation also increased by 10%.
The two countries also held a forum with the theme of "Working Together to Build a Closer China-Thailand Community with a Shared Future", discussing the issue of comprehensive cooperation in the fields of economy, security, and culture, and how to strengthen cooperation under the epidemic to achieve "China and Thailand as one family".
According to the report, Thailand expressed its willingness to cooperate with China in many fields such as epidemic response, poverty alleviation and poverty alleviation, and the promotion of the "Belt and Road" to jointly promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
The signing of the Sino-Thai high-speed rail order not only strengthens the close cooperative relationship between the two countries, but also achieves a mutually beneficial and win-win situation, which shows that Thailand's strategy is forward-looking and far-reaching.