1st high-speed rail to China-Vietnam border nears completion

The Fangchenggang-Dongxing High-speed Railway is under construction. [Photo by Dai Peiyun for en.gxzf.gov.cn]

The Fangchenggang-Dongxing High-speed Railway, which is the first high-speed rail line directly reaching the China-Vietnam border, is in its final stages of construction and is scheduled to open later this year.

Its main trunk line is 46.9 kilometers long with a design speed of 200 km per hour. Currently, tunnel construction has been completed and bridge construction is 97 percent complete.

At the western end of the railway is the newly built Dongxing Railway Station, which is located on the east banks of the Beilun River - the border waterway between China and Vietnam, facing the sea. 

The railway will mainly be responsible for moving passengers, while also undertaking some cross-border cargo transport. On startup, it will end the period of there being no railway transportation between Fangchenggang and Dongxing and is expected to play a positive role in promoting connectivity between China and Vietnam.

Dongxing is an important node for China's economic, trade and tourism cooperation with Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.

Statistics from the Dongxing exit and entry border inspection station for the first half of this year showed the number of tourists at the Dongxing Checkpoint reached 1.53 million, with 11,200 Chinese tourism groups and nearly 4,000 Vietnamese tourism groups.