Vietnam’s National Assembly has approved the construction of a new $8.3 billion railway link connecting northern Vietnam with China, which will be paid for in part with Chinese loans.

The 391-kilometer railway will run from the Vietnam-China border gate at Lao Cai-Hekou to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. From there it will head east to Haiphong, which houses the largest seaport in northern Vietnam. According to state media reports, the project will also include 27.9 kilometers of branch lines.

“Vietnam’s current railway system is outdated, and the country needs a new system to support its economic development,” Transport Minister Nguyen Hong Minh told parliament last week. He said construction on the railway project, which will run at a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour, will begin this year and is expected to be completed by 2030.

The railway will upgrade the existing narrow-gauge (1,000 mm) rail line that links Lao Cai with Haiphong, which was completed at great expense by the French colonial government in 1910. The new electrified railway will use........

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