Vietnam has asked China’s biggest contractor to help build its North-South railway, an epic infrastructure scheme that is expected to lay 1,700km of high-speed track at a cost of $67.3bn.
The invitation was extended to China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) by Vietnam’s Commission for the Management of State Capital (CMSC).
Speaking at a meeting in Hanoi on Friday, Nguyen Ngoc Canh, the vice chairman of the commission, said CSCEC had gained extensive experience in managing large-scale infrastructure projects, particularly in Vietnam.
CSCEC was represented at the meeting by Jin Shuo, general director of the company’s International Project Management Board, and the main manager of relations with Vietnam.
Canh said the CSCEC’s involvement would help to “promote the building of a community of shared future between Vietnam and China”, and added that it would fit into the framework established by To Lam, the general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party, and Xi Jinping, the president of China.
The two leaders met in August and agreed to create “hard connections” in terms of railways, highways, and border gate infrastructure, as well as “soft connections” in terms of smart customs procedures.
Jin said Chinese construction enterprises, especially CSCEC, had had a long history of operating in Vietnam and wished to “share its expertise”.
He added that CSCEC was “committed to ensuring quality, progress and compliance with the requirements of Vietnamese investors”.
In addition to the North-South route, Vietnam is planning to modernise its three standard gauge connections with China.
These pass through Hanoi or Haiphong and proceed to the border crossing at Lao Cai in northwest Vietnam, Lang Son in the north and Mong Cai on the coast.
The invitation to CSCEC is significant because Vietnam intends to rely mainly on domestic supply chains and project teams.
Vietnam intends to break ground on the first two sections of the North-South high-speed railway by late 2027.
The line will have a designed speed of 350km/h with 23 passenger stations and five cargo stations.
Once completed, the railway is expected to cut the time taken to travel between Vietnam’s two largest cities from 30 hours to around five.
- Subscribe here to get stories about construction around the world in your inbox three times a week
Further reading:
