BANGKOK - The construction of Thailand-China railway project from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, which will be further extended to Nong Khai on the Thai-Lao border in the future, will start in 2017 for sure, Chatchai Thipsunaree, Permanent Secretary of Thailand's Ministry of Transport, said on Tuesday. "We (Thailand and China) are almost done with the contract, 90 percent I will say, the construction will start in this year for sure," Chatchai told Xinhua after a press conference of the Transport Ministry. Thai Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith also mentioned the railway project at the press conference, saying it is a project of great importance to the kingdom, as it will connect Thailand with neighboring countries. The current project, 252 km high speed railway from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, will be extended another 355 km to Nong Khai on the Thai-Lao border, connecting with China-Lao railway from Vientiane to Kunming in China's southern Yunnan Province, according to Arkhom. The railway is also to be extended to the south, to Kuala Lumpur and finally Singapore, Arkhom said. The Thai government also plans to build a public-private partnership high-speed rail from Bangkok to Rayong to connect with the Thailand-China railway project. Several Thai experts told Xinhua earlier that they want the railway plan to be implemented in a faster way. Aksornsri Phanishsarn, director of Thai-Chinese Strategic Research Centre, National Research Council, told Xinhua that she hopes that China can help to push the Thailand-China railway project for it to become a "successful case" of cooperation between countries. Swai Visavanant, senior researcher at Chulalongkorn University's China Study Center, urged the Thai government to quickly move toward the implementation of the railway project, otherwise, Thailand may lose a good chance in its development. According to Arkhom, China and Thailand still need to agree on three things, such as materials for the construction, consulting fee and whether it is necessary for Chinese engineers to get Thai engineering certifications before they come to work in the kingdom. rubber bracelet makertrio spinnerssilicone bracelets ukdebossed wristband24 wristbandsbulk custom braceletscheap custom wristbands
Members of the medical staff honor an organ donor in an operating room at the Beijing You'an Hospital. [Photo provided to China Daily] GENEVA - The ongoing 71st World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva on Thursday shows high appreciation for the value of China's model and experience in organ transplantation. The WHA meetings focused on the universal coverage of organ transplantation, with delegates from China, Spain, Russia, Uruguay and Qatar sharing their experience and ideas on the topic. Huang Jiefu, head of China's National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee and chairman of China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation, gave a keynote speech titled The Chinese Organ Transplantation Undertaking in Achieving One Belt & One Road Initiative. He said that China's model of organ donation and transplantation features strong government support for legal, administrative and health sectors, and the progress of capacity building in organ transplantation clinical service and technical development. China is now implementing a national anti-organ trafficking surveillance system with joint effort of health, legal and law enforcement authorities, which, based on available data, may serve as an example of an operational mechanism to combat organ trafficking for the rest of the world, Huang added. According to Huang, the final Declaration of the Ethics in Action Meeting held in Vatican in March this year endorsed China as a model for regulating organ transplantation and also as a reference on the issue for other member states of the United Nations. Huang said that China is willing to share its experience with the rest of world under the Belt and Road Initiative, while at the same time working to improve the organ donation and transplantation system in China by benefiting from the highly valued experience of other countries. As an official appreciation for China's support to the World Health Organization (WHO) in promoting universal coverage of organ transplantation, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said thank you China to Huang in Chinese after the meeting. The 71st annual WHA, held in Geneva from Monday to Saturday, is a gathering of nearly 4,000 delegates from the WHO's 194 member states and partner organizations. The assembly is the WHO's highest decision-making body and determines policy for the organization.
