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China, Vietnam to assess viability of new railways, document shows

Published: 15 Apr. 2025, 18:06

Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, right, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on April 15. [AFP/YONHAP]

China and Vietnam took initial steps during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Hanoi this week to develop new rail links, as they agreed to conduct feasibility studies for two lines, according to one of the agreements reviewed by Reuters.

The two neighbors have long been discussing plans to upgrade two railways that were built by the French more than a century ago and develop a third direct link along their adjoining coast.

Amid growing concerns over U.S. tariffs, Xi urged Vietnam on Monday to strengthen supply chains, in which components made in China are often assembled in northern Vietnam before being exported.

Vietnam's top leader, To Lam, said on Monday that the building of the three railways was “the highest priority” in infrastructure cooperation between the two countries and encouraged China to offer concessional loans.

They agreed that China would carry out feasibility studies for two of the planned rail links, at a cost of 9.95 million yuan ($1.36 million), according to the two-page cooperation document, dated April 14, seen by Reuters.

The studies will take place within 12 months of the selection of the contractor to conduct the work, according to the document, which provided no deadline to complete the selection process.

The agreement concerns a railway connecting southern China's Guangxi Province to Hanoi and a new line that would link Shenzhen, China, with Haiphong, northeastern Vietnam.

There is already a railway line from Nanning in Guangxi Province to Hanoi, but passengers and goods currently have to swap trains at the border because the Vietnamese gauge — dating from French colonial times — is incompatible with China's modern high-speed tracks.

Mistrust between the two Communist-run countries, which fought a brief border war in the late 1970s and often clash over the disputed South China Sea, has long hampered progress on rail links, but in recent months, economic considerations appear to have prevailed over security concerns.

A third railway linking Vietnam's northern coast to China's Kunming, Yunnan Province, will begin construction this year, the Vietnamese parliament said in February, estimating that the section through Vietnam would cost $8.3 billion and be partly covered by loans from China.

The Vietnamese part of the line also dates back to the French colonial period.

There has been no loan announcement so far during Xi's visit, which will end on Tuesday after the launch of what is listed as a “Vietnam-China Railway Cooperation.”

Reuters