Asian businesspeople ride China's 'Belt and Road'

New rail project to lower time and cost of Thailand's rice exports to China

Boonyong is looking forward to lower transport costs when a rail network connecting China and Thailand gets completed. Currently, his rice products are delivered by road and sea which takes about three and five days respectively.

With the recent implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, China and Thailand launched an 845-km railway project linking the Thai capital Bangkok with the northeastern city of Nong Khai near Laos, part of a Pan-Asia railway network, in late 2015. The project will be connected to the China-Laos railway which connects Laos with the vast railway system in China.