HANOI - Vietnam aims to start building two high-speed railway lines linking its capital Hanoi with China before 2030, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said, another sign of a recent warming of ties between the two Communist-ruled neighbours.

China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner and a vital source of imports for its manufacturing sector. The two countries are already connected via a system of highways and two railway lines that are old and need upgrading on the Vietnam side.

One of the planned high-speed lines would run from Vietnam’s port cities of Haiphong and Quang Ninh through Hanoi to Lao Cai province, which borders China’s Yunnan province, the ministry said in a statement released late on April 9.

The other would run from Hanoi to Lang Son province, which borders China’s Guangxi region, passing through an area densely populated with global manufacturing facilities, including some owned by Chinese investors.

The ministry did not provide further details about the projects.

Earlier in April, Vietnam said it was seeking to learn from China to develop its first high-speed railway network and had sent its officials to work with Chinese railway companies.

A massive high-speed railway line linking the capital Hanoi with business hub Ho Chi Minh City is also being planned in the country.

Vietnam’s National Assembly chairman Vuong Dinh Hue met executives of Chinese railway companies on April 8 during his ongoing visit to Beijing, where he was hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

This came after Vietnam and China signed dozens of cooperation agreements, including on railways, during a visit to Hanoi by Mr Xi in December 2023.

Trade between Vietnam and China in the first quarter of 2024 rose 22 per cent from a year earlier to US$43.6 billion (S$58.6 billion), according to Vietnamese government data.

The two countries remain embroiled in a years-long maritime dispute in the South China Sea, though tensions appear to have calmed recently. REUTERS