HANOI, Dec 1 (Reuters) – China and Vietnam are working on a possible significant upgrade of their underdeveloped rail links to boost a line that crosses Vietnam’s rare earths heartland and reaches the country’s top port in the north, senior officials and diplomats said.
The talks are part of preparations for a possible visit to Hanoi in coming weeks by Chinese President Xi Jinping, officials and diplomats said, which would further confirm Vietnam’s increasingly strategic role in global supply chains as major powers including the United States vie to gain influence there.
Deeper trade ties and railways connections are expected to be discussed on Friday as China’s top diplomat Wang Yi meets Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang in Hanoi, diplomats said.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called for the upgrade of the railway linking Kunming in southern China to Vietnam’s port city of Haiphong in a statement released last month, after China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao made a rare visit to Vietnam.
Read the full article here