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require further discussion.”In terms of construction responsibil-ities, highly technological tasks such as tunnel boring were assigned to China while Thailand is responsible for normal track construction. With greater experience in railway development, China will oversee construction to ensure that every stretch adheres to the same standards. To launch construction, an opening ceremony was held on December 19 at Chiang Rak Noi station, where the Railway Control and Administrative Centre will be located.The Chinese ambassador added: “Despite the global economic down- turn, many countries have shown an interest in China’s economy, particularly the One Belt One Road policy. China’s economy is the second biggest in the world and has the highest volume of imports and exports, worth US$4 trillion. However, the economy is being restructured. Chinese manufac- turers are restricted from draining natural resources and are becoming more environmentally friendly. China is losing its business advantages but it should be gratifying to see that even under these conditions the country’s economic growth is reaching 6.9%.”By 2020, it is hoped that China’s GDP and per capita income will be double that of 2010. In other words, the target is that GDP will reach $17 trillion in 2020, equivalent to the current US figure. To succeed in this, the growth rate must top 6.5% for the next six years. Outside factors such as a world economic crisis could suppress this.China’s development models for the next five years focus on international collaboration and boosting innovation – balancing economic growth with environmental concerns while welcoming more foreigners and sharing benefits with other countries. Modern business strategies will depend less on natural resources and low-cost labour and instead be driven by innovations suchas in clean energy and information technology.“The Chinese government is encouraging citizens to operate their own businesses and support creative innovations,” said Ambassador Ning. “In the Chinese e-commerce festival on November 11, total sales reached the highest volume in history within a day, worth 23.6 billion RMB. Infrastructure development and domestic consumption are key to Chinese economic growth.”As for opportunities for Thai investors, agriculture is a matter of concern in China. New technologies and greater food production are needed to serve the growing numbers of Chinese urbanites. The ambassador believes that Thailand’s ability to produce agricultural products is still widely accepted by foreign investors. In addition, according to the recent National Congress of the Communist Party, China is implementing a new policy to reduce agricultural areasin the next five years in order to let polluted lands recover from industrial toxins. This will cause domestic supply to decrease while demand for agricultural products will increase, providing an opportunity for Thailand.“Sino-Thai cooperation will be mutually beneficial. We are most concerned with the moral aspect; China will not be the soloist of the symphony orchestra. The symphony of Sino-Thai development will be played together, and cooperation on the railway will be the most significant verse of the song.”Read more about the New Silk Road on eliteplusmagazine.com via this QR codeElite+ 13