July 12, 2007 -- At the Fourteenth Greater Mekong Sub-Region Ministerial Conference, China, Laos and Thailand signed an agreement on the construction of a new bridge over the Mekong River to connect Chiangkhong in Thailand and Ban Houayxay in Laos, to the Kunming-Bangkok Highway, Spring City Evening News reported.

The 1800 kilometer long Kunming-Bangkok Highway begins at the Yunnan capital, Kunming going down to Ban Houayxay in Laos; it then crosses the Mekong River and finally reaches Bangkok and then on to Chiangkhong. The completion of the new bridge over the Mekong River will help connect China's southeast provinces with Bangkok, the newspaper added.

With capital investments from both China and Thailand, the bridge is expected to be completed in 2011 and will be the last link in the highway system that winds through the Mekong River region