CHINA aims to complete laying a 418-kilometer railway from a border town to Laos by 2020, China Economic Herald reported, as the economic giant seeks a new route into the emerging markets of Southeast Asia.

    The two countries agreed Friday to jointly build a 40-billion-yuan (US$6.28 billion) railway from the border town of Boten to the Laos capital Vientiane, the Herald reported.

    The deal was announced at a signing ceremony attended by senior officials from the National Development & Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner, China Railway Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of China, the paper said.

    The railway, to be 70 percent funded by China and 30 percent by Laos, will eventually be connected with railroads to countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, the paper said.

    Last month, the Yunnan government announced an investment plan of more than 200 billion yuan in a pilot economic zone on the border with Laos that covers areas including energy, education and transport.(SD-Agencies)