Travellers are one step closer to an epic train journey from Bangkok to Beijing as a new railway bridge over the Mekong River has opened, linking Thailand and Laos by rail for the first time. This milestone, completed last month, leaves just a few dozen miles of a trackless gap before the route can finally reach China.

With the launch of this new service, passengers can now enjoy a 12-hour train journey from Bangkok’s Krung Thep Aphiwat Station to Khamsavath Station in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. However, Khamsavath, located about 9.7 kilometres outside Vientiane, is currently the final stop on this route. Travellers wishing to continue their journey to China must navigate Vientiane’s streets via taxis or vans to reach the larger, Chinese-built Vientiane Railway Station, which lies 16 kilometres northeast of the capital.

The remaining tracks could be laid by 2028, completing the long-awaited connection to China. Once finished, the route will link Bangkok directly to southern China’s high-speed rail network, marking a significant boost for trade and tourism in the region.

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — A Vietnamese delegation’s visit to China last week has underscored increasingly close economic ties between the territorial rivals, which analysts say is posing a challenge to the dominance of South Korean investment in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue led the high-level delegation from April 7 to 12 and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Hue proposed the two countries create a new push for trade development and “connect Vietnam to China’s large development strategies.”

He also met with the heads of many large Chinese companies that want to participate in Vietnam’s infrastructure construction.

China is Vietnam’s largest trade partner and on the way to becoming its biggest foreign direct investor.

A representative of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or KCCI, in Vietnam last week told Nikkei Asia that Chinese companies are pushing back South Korean firms as China steps up investment in Vietnam.

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BEIJING (AP) — China and Zambia upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership on Friday, the latest move by America’s chief global rival to forge deeper ties with the Global South.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Zambian counterpart announced the agreement shortly after Xi had exchanged cordial words with another visitor, the new prime minister of Cambodia. The flurry of diplomatic activity came just two days after Venezuela’s president met Xi and the two elevated their countries’ ties to an “all-weather” partnership.

The trio of leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America speak to China’s growing role in those parts of the world and China’s ambitions to be a global leader. Facing growing pressure from the U.S. and its partners, which fear China’s rise could disrupt the existing international order, the world’s second largest economy is trying to project itself as a powerful nation standing up for the interests of the Global South.

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China has been a key supporter of water governance and green and sustainable development in the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) countries, a Cambodian official and an expert said on Monday.

The LMC consists of six countries, namely China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

So Sophort, secretary general of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee, said the regional cooperation between China and the Mekong countries, including Cambodia, is well progressive.

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A year ago, a U.S.$6 billion high-speed railway was completed between Laos and China amid much fanfare and hopes that it would fuel exports from Laos and spur growth in the impoverished, landlocked country.

But one year later, most of the trade has been one-way: from China, which exports machinery, auto parts, electronics and consumer goods, sources in Laos tell Radio Free Asia. Laotian exports, hindered by China’s strict COVID policies at the border and other structural barriers, have made up just a small fraction by comparison.

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China on Monday proposed six programs which will benefit the Lancang-Mekong countries aside from China, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, including cooperation plans in agriculture, water resources, digital economy, aerospace, education, and public health, as Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (LMC) in Bagan, Myanmar.

The meeting came after the US’ high-profile launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), seen by experts as an empty move that lacks sustainability and substance, which is in stark contrast to the pragmatic LMC cooperation mechanism that has borne fruitful results since its launch in 2016.

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China has committed to many regional development projects under the Belt and Road Initiative and the LMC with the Mekong-Lancang countries.

Thong Mengdavid, a research associate of the Mekong Center for Strategic Studies at the Asian Vision Institute, a think tank in Phnom Penh, told China Daily that China has committed to many regional development projects under the Belt and Road Initiative and the LMC.

“Regional cooperation should be endorsed and strengthened for the welfare of the people living in the Mekong-Lancang countries,” Thong Mengdavid said.

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