CHINA-THAILAND RAILWAY COOPERATION

As an important part of his stay in Thailand, Li and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will witness the signing of the MoU on the two countries' railway cooperation.

The MoU will allow China's investment in two dual-track rail lines that span 734 km and 133 km respectively and connect northeast Thailand's Nong Khai province, Bangkok and eastern Rayong province.

The project is estimated to cost about $10.6 billion.

The signing of the MoU will bear witness to the consensus between Chinese and Thai leaders on promoting regional connectivity and furthering bilateral ties.

Earlier, Prayut told Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing that Thailand would cooperate with China in agriculture and railway development, under the framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives.

The conviction is widely shared that China-Thailand railway collaboration promises great growth opportunities for the GMS and beyond.

The two lines mentioned in the MoU will join the planned China-Laos railway and high economic returns will come along, said Huang Bin, a China expert with the Kasikorn Research Center, a Thai think tank.

"They will offer a new channel for bilateral trade, and also help form a potentially-lucrative tourist route starting from China's Yunnan province, to Laos' Vientiane and Thailand's Bangkok," he said.

Once China's railways connect with those in ASEAN countries, they will remarkably fuel economic growth for cities and regions involved, said Yang Yong, who is in charge of the China-Thailand rail project in the China Railway Corporation.

Thailand's Nong Khai province, for example, could become a gateway that links Thai products with China and even the world, as well as a magnet for Laotian tourists, Yang said.