Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said efforts are being made to ensure that construction of the railway linking China and Thailand formally begins in May.
Ning, who also serves as -deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), made the remarks on Thursday at a forum of the Boao Forum for Asia.
In December 2015, China and Thailand held a launch ceremony at Chiang Rak Noi Station in central Thailand to celebrate the first standard-gauge railway in Thailand, applying China's technology, standards and equipment, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency in the same month.
The railway will be about 845 kilometers long, and -it will be an important mode of transport for goods and people between China and Thailand.
The link will also be a -section of the planned trans-Asian -railway running through South China, Laos and Thailand.
Construction of a cross--border railway between China and Laos began in December 2015.
The statement made by the deputy head of the NDRC followed other developments involving China's rail technology exports.
The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, Indonesia's first high-speed railway project, kicked off in January, marking a major achievement in railway cooperation between China and Indonesia.
The railway links Indonesia's capital Jakarta and the fourth-largest city of Bandung, running for about 150 kilometers.
