NANNING, Sept. 18 -- China and Laos will build a railway linking the two countries and other ASEAN members, said Laotian Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad on Friday.

Construction of the railway is expected to begin late this year, Lengsavad said at the 12th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, from Friday to Monday.

He cited Lao President Choummaly Sayasone as saying that railway will be constructed in honor of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.