Keywords

F ramework , Trade Performance, The China Laos Railway, Thai Industries

Introduction

With the establishment of the ASEAN Free Trade Area and the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEPRCEP) agreement, China began to pay more and more attention to trade cooperation with Southeast Asian countries (Bin & Mengrong, 20182018). China and Thailand are imp ortant trade partners partners. In 2019, the bilateral trade reached US $80 billion, of which China's exports reached 50 50.98 billion USD, up by 1 1.66% annually , while imports reached 2929.02 billion USD, which is down by 3 3.44% annuallyannually. Thailand's trade deficit is growin g with China, and increasing exports have also become a priority for Thailand's economic development development. Railway transportation has the advantages of large transportation capacity, low transportation cost, and fast transportation transportation. Therefore, it has been used as an important mode of transportation in international trades trades. However, the transportation modes of trade between China and Thailand are mainly sea, and land transportation, with sea transportation, is as high as 85 85% (Valinluck, 20192019). The establishmen t of the China Laos railway will provide a new transportation route from Thailand Thailand’s exports to China China. As a neighbor of China and Thailand, Laos bilateral trades are small, and the China Laos railway plan will be used to transport goods 14 times a day and 4 times for passengerspassengers. The China Laos railway plan will be used to transport goods 14 times a day and 4 times for passengerspassengers. The railway gives China and Thai industries more opportunities (Yangyang & Li Li, 20202020). However, the studies on the opportunities th e railway will bring to Thai businesses are still limited limited. Some companies do not understand the railway advantages to improving trade performance and trade competitiveness competitiveness. This paper aims to analyze the effect of the China Laos railway on the export trade from Thailand and China China. Based on the analysis and findings, a framework for building a competitive advantage for Thai industries exporting to China will be proposed proposed. Firstly, the authors study through a literature review and identify the major trade lane s, areas, and industries of Thailand exports to China and then use secondary data analysis method to identify the determining factors of evaluation routes routes. Next, in depth interviews with the experts are conducted to determine the existing transportation ro utes and future transportation routes after the completion of the railway railway. After obtaining the determining factors, the author used the AHP analysis method to determine the weight of these determinin g factors and then use the TOPSIS method to compare the e xisting route with the future route route. The new routes formed after the completion of the China Laos railway have better transportation performanceperformance. A framework will be proposed for taking advantage of the new transportation routes, which will help Thailand's industrial exporters to improve their trade performance and trade competitiveness competitiveness.

Literature Review

China Laos Railway The China Laos railway connects Kunming, China, with Vientiane, Laos Laos. The railway has a total length of more than 900 kilometers kilometers. The mainline in China has a total length that stretches 508 508.53 kilometers, while Laos has 414 kilometers kilometers. The designed speed is 160 km km/h for passengers and a freight speed of 120 kmkm/hh. There are 7 stations in the China section and 11 stations in the Laos Laos. There will be 18 trips a day, of which 4 are for passenger s and 14 for freightfreight. The passenger fare is 0 0.04 USD USD/person /km, and the freight price is 0 0.07 USD USD/tonton/kmkm. (Huang, 2020 2020). The China Laos railway adopts the international railway standard, with a track spacing of 1435 mm mm. The railway has 170 Bridges and 72 tunnels, with a bridge to tunnel ratio of 63 63%, and a single carriage carrying a weight is 50 60 tons tons. The p lanned final freight capacity should reach 19 million tons tons/year after being put into operation operation. The head of the construction of the China Laos railway predicted that the upstream traffic of the line (from Vientiane to Boten Boten) could reach 2 2.59 million tons tons/y earear. In the initial stage, 3 3.62 million tons tons/year in the short term and 66.45 million tons tons/year in the long term (Rusakova & Bylkov, 20182018).

Thai Products are Exported to the Main Provinces and Routes of China

Thai products are mainly exported to five areas in China, such as; Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Shandong, and Zhejiang (Zhu & Chen, 20132013). Guangdong imports reached to $15 15.2 billion in 2018, accounting for 39 39% of the total exports, followed by the Yangtze River delta economic circle circle. The three major economic strong provinces of Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, imports accounted for 32 32%, Jiangsu is $6 6.01 billion, accounted for 16 16%, Shanghai is 4 4.68 billion, accounted for 12 12%, Zhejiang is 1 1.36 billion, accounted for 4 4% (Feng & Qin, 20152015). The main export is plastic and rubber products, mechanical, electrical, and plant products products. The export amount of plastic and rubber products is 8 8.11 billion USD, accounting for 26 26.9999%. The export amount of mechanical and electrical products is 6 6.8 26 billion USD, accounting for 2222.7171%, and the export amount of plant products is 3 3.284 billion USD, accounting for 12 12.8080% (Zhangjie, Wang & 20192019).

Export Routes for Major Industries from Thailand to China

The five provinces are divided into thr ee regions regions. The first is Guangdong which is the south China economic center center. Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang is the Yangtze River delta economic center, and Shandong, which is an important economic hub in northern China (Shansong & Xiuying, 2018). Afte r an in depth interview with the compan ies , the author s summarize the routes being used in other papers as follows (Table 1 ):

Identifying the Determining Factors for Route Selection

The selection of a route is one of the most important factors in transportation because transportation route selection is a complex and multi criteria decision decision. This paper has considered many different factors, such as distance, cost, delivery time, security, transportation capability, etcetc. The authors collected 16 lite rature reviews through the second hand data method and summarized the determinant factors of the selected route they adopt in Table 2 (Etoh & Sakurai, 2011 ; Fareed, 2012 ; Gong & Wu, 2007 ; Guan, 2014 Huang, 2020 ; Jia ni, 2015 ; Lei, 2014 ; Zhu, 2013 ; Wang, 2014 MaciejHojda , 2018 ; Cheng, 2011 ; Zhu, 2009 ; Liu, 2006; Tian, 2016) Cost and time are the most frequently used factors in other literature, followed by security and transportation capacity, and finally is the distance Table 2 Figure 1 ).

Research Methodology

Research Flowchart

F rist of all , this paper summarizes the main existing routes of Thailand's export to China through a literature review, the literature review method and secondary d ata method are combined to summarize the determining factors used in route selection. Then, the a uthor uses secondary data method and in depth interview method to get the new routes in the future (after the completion of the China Laos railway railway). Next, the AHP analysis is used to identify the weight of determinant factors and adopt the TOPSIS method to compare the existing and the new routes to select the optimization of routes . Finally, this study develops a framework to take the advantages of the optimal r oute to improve trade performance and competitiveness from Thailand to China

Figure 1: Research Flowchart

Result and Discussion

New Transportation Routes This study identifies the new routes, resulting from the connectivity that the China Laos railway will bring through in depth interviews with experts. In addition, these experts will select the Common routes among the existing routes routes. These experts are respectively the leader of the China Laos Railway project Mohan Section (China Railway Bureau Group Co. LtdLtd) and three logistics companies (Evergreen Marine Co., Ltd, Wanhai Shipping Co., Ltd, OOCL Shipping Co., Ltd) and export traders in three main industries (Pawin Golden Rice Co., LTD, FR Enterprise Co Co., LTD, Baohan International Logistics Co., LTD). The existing routes and new routes are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: The Existing Routes and New Routes

The Weight of the Determining Factors

The authors send the questionnaire with determining factors to experts for assessment assessment. There are five experts involved in this study, inclu ding two leaders from a freight forwarding company, two exporters from Thai fruit and rubber industries, and the last one is a teacher with rich experience in the field of logistics logistics. After getting the results of the questionnaire, AHP analysis is applied t o study the weight of each factor factor. Since the importance of each factor considered in the export of each industry is different, the author summarizes the weight of each industry in Table 3.

Performance of Each Route

In this section, the authors used the actual performance of each route using the determining factors to calculate the logistics performance performance. Cost, time, transportation capacity, and distance are calculat ed based on data collected from in depth interviews and a literature reviewreview. Safety and convenience are calculated based on the experts' questionnaire (5 point scalescale). The performance of each route obtained through in depth interviews is shown in Table 4.

Then, the author used the TOPSIS method to compare these routes, and the final results are shown in Table 5.

The author found out that the comprehensive logistics performance of the new routes is obviously better than that of the existing routes in all industries (Zhangjie, Wang & Zhang, 20192019). The main reason is that the new routes get high scores for safety and convenience convenience. This proves that the new routes have a higher level of safety and convenience convenience. Then, compared with the routes by land transportation, the new route has apparent advantages in time in terms of cost, time, and transpor tation capacity; compared with other sea transportation, the new routes have huge advantages in terms of distance and time time. Therefore, the author thinks it is necessary to consider how to use the new routes to give play to its advantages (Etoh, Hori & Sakurai, 20112011).

Framework for Improving Trade Performance

This framework describes the main roles in the new routes and provides advice for those rolesroles. This framework will help Thai exporters to improve the trade performance and competitiveness of Thai products products. The framework is shown in figure 3,

Figure 3: The Framework

For the Government

As an important cooperative project of the government, the measures taken by the government are important factors affecting the new routes routes. The new routes will involve three governmentsgovernments. The new routes do not offer much advantage in terms of convenience, mainly because rail transport is limited by punctuality and guaranteed full loads, so small goods need to be lumped together for easy transport. In addition , many cold chain goods are limited by time and need to be stored before shipment, so it is necessary to build a warehouse at the starting point of the railway. The Thai government should invest in the distribution warehouse in Nong Khai Province (Importan t boundary) to facilitate the loading and optimization of goods by enterprisesenterprises. Thai government also needs to publicize and introduce the new routes to Thai exporters in Thailand. Since few companies know about the new routes after the railway is built, th e government needs to publicize the advantages of railway in terms of cost, time and safety, so that companies can try to use the new routes. Since the main section of the new routes is in Laos, so the Lao government needs to maintain the quality of the ra ilway and simplify customs clearance to make it more convenient for Thai exporters exporters. Encourage and train railway technicians to master railway technology to reduce railway failure rate and maintenance times times. The Chinese government establishes the main part of the new routes routes. They can also appropriately subsidize the new routes like the China Europe railway to reduce the transportation cost, the cost reduction will allow more exporters to use the new routes and improve the performance and efficiency of the ro utes, so that the countries can get benefit in other ways. Additionally, China must help Laos train technical railway personnel so that Laos can manage the China Laos railway independently to reduce the management cost cost. The Chinese government needs to be r esponsible for the maintenance and management of railways, which will help improve the transportation efficiency of new routes routes.

For the Exporters

The purpose of this paper is to improve the trade competitiveness of Thai exporters exporters. The study has proven tha t the new route better than other routes in terms of logistics performance. Exporters need to understand that new routes are superior to all other routes in terms of safety and time , shorter transport time and safe transport of goods with low damage will b e able to improve the trade competitiveness of goods. If exporters consider these two factors to be the most important for transport their goods, the new routes should be preferred. Considering the size of exporters, the author will put forward some sugges tions for exporters of different sizes companiescompanies. The authors found that exports of plastics and rubber, mechanical and electrical are large enterprises the customs declaration and inspection of railway transportation will be different from other transpor tation modes. The important factors that affect the convenience of railway transportation are customs declaration and inspection; large enterprises must first be familiar with the railway transport customs clearance and inspection procedures. Enterprises s horten the customs declaration inspection and loading and unloading time, can be very good to shorten the total time. Then, the running time of railway transportation is also an important factor affecting convenience, if the enterprise cannot load in time, Failure to load the goods on time will cause damage to the goods and increase the transportation time. Exporter cannot fill the goods will increase the transportation cost. They must consider using the distribution warehouse established by the government to guarantee the quality of the products products. The railway system as part of the new routes cannot provide "door to door door" service. Hence, the exporters need to be familiar with the distribution of products to customers after unloading from the railwayrailway. For smal l and medium sized enterprises, they have high requirements for transport time, and the new routes will suit them well, but they will be limited by the full capacity of the trains, which will increase costs if they cannot fill up. The author suggests that they must try to form a chamber of commerce or groups to gather their products in the distribution warehouse and transport them together to reduce transportation costs costs. Some small companies who are exporting plants must also understand the cold chain logis tics of new routes , because a lot of plants need to be transported in the cold chain. If the quantity and volume of the product is very small, there will be many third party logistics companies, which are also a good choice. They can help small and medium sized businesses consolidate goods, reducing transport costs. Can bring preferential transport prices and professional transport services to Thai enterprises enterprises.

Conclusion

Tra de performance has always been an important factor that affects Thai products exp ort to China. The China Laos railway is completed by 2021 will provide new transportation connectivity between Thailand and China. However, the studies about this subject are very few, and the Thai industries’ understanding of the potential benefits that this railway connectivity will bring is limited. This paper provided the analysis results of the effect the China Laos railway may have on the exports from Thailand and China , t he author proves that the new routes is superior to the existing routes in term s of transport performance, Then, the framework for building a competitive advantage from the connectivity provided by the railway was developed. Next, the author puts forward relevant suggestions to the government and exporters, so that the advantages of the new routes can be further exploited. Through this paper , Thai exporters will understand the specific situation of the new routes and its advantages, and be able to make reasonable use of the routes according to the author's suggestions. Thus , improving trade performance and export competitiveness.

References

1. Bin, T., & Mengrong, L. (2018). on the translation of high speed railway promotional film from the perspective of multi modal theory a case study of 2015 china high speed railway promotional fi lm. Paper presented at the The 6th International Symposium on Innovation and Sustainability of Modern Railway.
2. Etoh, F., Hori, Y., & Sakurai, K. (2011). A study of communication route selection considering route security. Paper presented at the 2011 11th IEEE/IPSJ International Symposium on Applications and the Internet, Munich, Germany.
3. Fareed, M.S., Javaid, N., Ahmed, S., Rehman, S., Qasim, U., & Khan, Z.A. (2012). Analyzing Energy Efficiency and Route Selection of Multi level Hierarchal Routing Protoco ls in WSNs.
4. Feng, B., & Qin, S.P. (2015). The performance evaluation of china railway corporation modern logistics based on combination weighting method and topsis method. EMCS 2015, Shenyang, China, Shenyang.
5. Feng, S.M. (2020). International Aviation Lo gistics Risk Identification and Assessment from Perspective of Consolidator Based on AHP. (ACAAI 2020)
6. Huang. (2020). Study on the selection of logistics transportation route between cities based on AHP. The electronic commerce (4), 5 6,8.
7. Lei, L. (2014) 2014). Study on the fire risk assessment of the electric bicycle based on the AHP . (ICICTA 2014) Changsha, Hunan, China, Changsha.
8. Rusakova, O., & Bylkov, V. (2018). The social and economic aspects of the employment in railway transport of china. (ISMR2018)
9. S hansong, H., & Xiuying, L. (2018). Analysis on competitive advantages and global marketing strategies of china's high speed railway. The 6th International Symposium on Innovation and Sustainability of Modern Railway .
10. Sithirajvongsa, T. (2017). The impact of the China Laos railway on the development of Laos . (master's degree). Lanzhou University.
11. Sri Innop, K. (2016). The d etermination of merchandise trade between thailand and China . (master's degree). Southeast University.
12. Su. (2018). Problems diagnosis and countermeasure research of lao chinese railway project. (master's degree). Capital University of Economics and Business .
13. Tao. (2017). Discussion on logistics development of china laos railway international intermodal transport channel under the belt and road initiative . Railway freight, 35 (10), 20 24.
14. Tian. (2016). Research on logistics transportation mode selection of jindong paper company based on AHP. (master's degree). Guizhou university.
15. Zheng , T . (2016). Research on vehicle routing selection fo r emergency supplies based on AHP 216 (21), 284 284.
16. Thangthokit, J. (2009). FTA Thailand China Opportunities and obstacles of Thailand’s export to China. (master's degree). Southeast University.
17. Valinluck, T. (2019). Impacts of ASEAN China Free Trade Agreement(ACFTA)on Thailand’s trade with China. (master 's degree). University of International Business and Economics .
18. Wan, J., Qi, G., Zeng, Z., & Sun, S. (2011). The application of ahp in oil and gas pipeline route selection. Paper presented at the 2011 19th International Conference on Geoinformatics , 3 , Shanghai, China.
19. Wang, W., Chen, J., Chen, Y., & Chen, Y. (2014). Research on performance evaluation and reconstruction strategy of transforming enterprise cooperation network based on G AHP. Paper presented at the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: 2014 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC) SMC), San Diego, CA, USA, San Diego, CA.
20. Wang, Y., Liang, L., & Zhang, J. (2014). Based on the factor analysis and ahp online shopping satisfaction evalua tion research. (ISCID 2014), Hangzhou, China, Hangzhou.
21. Wei, D. c. (2010). Implementation of route selection function based on improved floyd algorithm. Paper presented at the 2010 WASE International Confer ence on Information Engineering 2 , BeiDai, Chin a.
22. Xiao Ian, L., & Wei, C. (2009). Application of dynamic route selection model in urban transportation distribution . ICMTMA 2009), 3 B )), Zhangjiajie, China.
23. Yangyang, & Li. (2020). Research on the influence of international railway opening on cross bor der logistics accessibility and economic connections take the china laos railway as an example. Journal of Chongqing University of Technology, 34( 4), 24 32.
24. Yang, F., Ding, Y. L., Li, A. q., & Zhao, H. W. (2018). Structural health monitoring of high spe ed railway bridges in china :A State of the Art Review. The 7th World Conference on Structural Control and Monitoring 7WCSCM).
25. Yaping, Z., Chengju, S., & Zhichao, Y. (2012). Research on route selection model of road network emergency evacuation under ice and snow. Intelligent Transportation System And Technology 5 , Harbin(CN).
26. Yue, Q., Duanfeng, H., Jihong, S., & Guoliang, W. (2014). A study on the route selection problem for ship evacuation . International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC )), San Diego, CA, USA, San Diego, CA.
27. Zhangjie, Wang, & Zhang Zhang. (20192019). Impact of china laotai thailand railway construction on spatial connection pattern of yunnan province and countries along the line line. World Regional Studies, 28 28(33), 43 5353.
28. Zhu, H., & Ch en, Y Y. (20132013). Route Selection of Expressway Based on VE and AH PP. Paper presented at the Architecture, building materials and engineering management management: Selected, peer reviewed papers from the 3rd International Conference on Civil Engineering, Architecture an d Building Materials (CEABM 2013 2013), Jinan, China, Jinan Jinan(CNCN).