The government and private sector of China are interested in the Thai government's Land Bridge project and are seeking more details, according to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
Mr Srettha said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made this clear during their meeting at Government House on Monday.
Mr Wang had said that the Chinese government was interested in the land bridge project but needed more information about it, and that the Chinese private sector wanted a part in it, Mr Srettha said.
"They well know a key reason for the Land Bridge project," the prime minister said.
He said that in recent years large Chinese companies had invested in very big factories in Thailand, to serve local demand and to export their products from Thailand.
"It will be an export hub. Of course, we will have deep-sea ports and the Land Bridge mega project will support this," the prime minister said.
Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit would lead a road show on the Land Bridge to China in the near future, Mr Srettha said.
The proposed Land Bridge involves connecting the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand by road and rail, with transit hubs in Ranong and Chumphon provinces. There would be two deep-sea ports, one at each end, and 90 kilometres of road and a railway to move cargo containers off-loaded at one end to ships waiting at the other end.
It is being promoted as a new logistics and transport hub and an alternative to the existing route between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea through the congested Malacca Straits. The main selling point is it would cut travel time from nine days to five days, thus reducing shipping expenses, according to the government.
The initial concept involves building a transport route for goods from the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) via at Laem Chabang port to the Andaman Coast for around 8 million tonnes annually.
The project would also serve as a development model for the Southern Economic Corridor.
Economists predict China would benefit the most from this project.
Critics say it would not save time and that berthing fees, the unloading and loading of ships and the transport of containers by land between the two ports would add to freight costs, not reduce them.