The building of a railway between southwest China's Yunnan Province and Laos will kick off on October 28, according to its Chinese contractor.

The 530-km railway, expected to be completed in 2015, will link Mohan port in Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna and Vientiane, the capital of Laos, said Li Zhanqun, board chairman of the Yunnan Xiaoxiang Pan-Asia Investment Co. Ltd.

"We would like to use more workers from Laos to help boost the employment market along the railway," Li said.

The railway is part of the Trans-Asian railway network, which will cover 114,000 km and travel through 28 countries throughout the region.

In 2009, China ratified an agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network, which was initiated by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The agreement came into effect in June 2009.

(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2010)