China to drive pan-Asia rail development

Strategic efforts especially benefiting connectivity among ASEAN members

China's efforts to promote new quality productive forces will significantly contribute to the development of a pan-Asia rail network, experts say.

This is especially true in Southeast Asia, they said, where China has provided technology for high-speed railways and supported the establishment of international cargo rail services. Examples include the recently launched ASEAN cargo express and the China-Laos Railway, a key project under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The resolution adopted by the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stressed the importance of "improving the institutions and mechanisms for fostering new quality productive forces in line with local conditions". China is supporting all-round innovation, with education, science and technology, and talent as the basic and strategic underpinnings for Chinese modernization, all to benefit countries taking part in the BRI.

Linda Tjia Yin Nor, an associate professor at the department of public and international affairs, City University of Hong Kong, said China's promotion of new quality productive forces is centered on innovation. This approach goes beyond developing the state-of-the-art technology; it also focuses on leveraging the existing technologies to benefit a broader population.

Drawing on her extensive research on Chinese and Japanese railway technology, Tjia highlighted the current railway partnership between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China. She said ASEAN countries need a reliable and safe railway that is suitable for the local market, rather than "very expensive and exceptionally sophisticated "railway technologies.

Boosting trade

Tjia cited the ASEAN cargo express, which links Malaysia, Thailand and Laos with China, facilitating trade between ASEAN and China.

The cargo express recently completed a 14-day trip from Chongqing, returning to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 11. The train, operated by Malaysia's railway company KTMB, traveled through Thailand and Laos. KTMB is planning to make two to three trips per month at present.

Chin Yew Sin, president of the Malaysia Strategy Research Center, a Kuala Lumpur-based think tank, said the ASEAN cargo express will enhance both intraregional connectivity among ASEAN countries and external connectivity with China.

It is important for ASEAN to develop a regional railway express, he said, noting its cost-effectiveness compared with air or sea transport.

Chin estimates the ASEAN cargo express will reduce transportation costs between Malaysia and China by 30 percent.

Rosli Azad Khan, managing director of MDS Traffic Planners &Consultants, a transport consultancy firm in Kuala Lumpur, said the launch of the ASEAN cargo express is timely in light of the sharp rise in global shipping costs.

The current Palestine-Israel conflict has spurred attacks by Yemen's Houthi group on ships plying the Red Sea. The intensified attacks in the strategic waterway have disrupted shipping routes and increased freight rates.

The Drewry World Container Index, which monitors the freight market, reported that on July 18, shipping prices for a 40-foot (12-meter) standard container rose to $5,937, nearly four times more than the $1,488 quoted in July last year.

Expanding markets

Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, president of the Institute of Future Studies for Development in Thailand, said the ASEAN cargo express has given both China and ASEAN chances to expand their markets. But this service can only be sustained if the benefits are distributed among participating countries, he said. "Laos and Thailand can't just be a way to pass through."

The ASEAN cargo express is just the latest of the China-ASEAN railway partnership.

Another significant component of this partnership is the China-Laos Railway, which was launched in December 2021, linking Vientiane, the capital of Laos, with Kunming in Yunnan province.

It has become a key logistics route in the region, facilitating the transportation of 4.18 million metric tons of cargo from the Yexianggu station in Yunnan as of May, said Chen Haican, the station's railway freight duty officer.

Anongdeth Phetkaysone, deputy managing director of the Lao Ministry of Public Works and Transport and deputy general manager of the Laos-China Railway Company, said the railway is "very important and crucial" to Laos' socioeconomic development.

He emphasized Laos' agricultural focus and its geographical proximity to major agricultural nations such as Thailand and Vietnam.

"If the Vientiane South Station can be a hub that can transit not just domestic goods ... our main vision is that we try to connect China and ASEAN so that products from ASEAN can be linked to the Chinese mainland," Anongdeth told a media group led by China Daily and the Chinese mission to ASEAN in June.

"If we can reach this, it would mean huge benefit not only to Laos but also other ASEAN countries."