Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory letter on Dec 21 over the groundbreaking ceremony of the first stage of the China-Thailand railway project.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha attended and addressed the ceremony held locally.

In the letter, Premier Li stated that the project, as the flagship program of the Belt and Road Initiative and industrial capacity cooperation between the two countries, will effectively enhance infrastructure construction and interconnectivity levels in Thailand and the project area, contribute to sustainable growth of the local economy, promote regional prosperity and improve people’s well-being.

He added that bilateral efforts on the consultation and construction of the project, based on a sharing spirit, will lead to mutually beneficial results for both countries.

The Premier expressed his hope for high-quality completion of the first stage of the railway project and solid progress on the second stage so as to realize connections between the China-Thailand railway line and China-Laos railway line as soon as possible.

Such efforts will promote economic, trade and personnel exchanges among countries along the two rail lines and achieve mutual benefits and win-win results, said Premier Li.

He also stressed the friendly relationship between China and Thailand, saying that as a friendly neighbor of Thailand, China has attached great importance to the development of bilateral ties.

China is willing to further strengthen the alignment of development strategies of the two countries, and make use of the railway project as a new platform to forward pragmatic cooperation in an effort to achieve greater progress on Sino-Thai all-around strategic partnership and bring benefits to people in both countries, said the Premier.