China investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor has made Chinese firms the largest foreign investor group in Thailand’s special industrial zone. From 2019 to 2024, approved projects reached $8.4 billion and focused heavily on EV manufacturing, energy and major transport links.
China investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor has become a defining feature of Thailand’s special industrial zone east of Bangkok. From 2019 to 2024, Chinese projects received permits worth a total of $8.4 billion, equal to 16% of all investment in the region.
EVs and energy lead the flow
According to Korthong Thongtham on Ayutthaya, acting director of one of the EEC units, the biggest share of Chinese money is going into electric vehicles and energy. BYD, or Build Your Dreams, is among the most prominent names, with electric car factories under construction in the region.
The pattern reflects a broader industrial shift. The corridor is attracting manufacturers that want access to ports, lower labour costs and a base outside China as tariffs on Chinese goods rise in the United States.
Major infrastructure remains central
China investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor is not limited to factories. One of the largest infrastructure projects is a 220-kilometre high-speed railway line designed to connect the corridor area with Bangkok and southern Thailand.
Chinese companies, including China Railway Construction Corporation, are involved together with a Thai consortium. Work began before the pandemic, but it was halted. The project is now expected to restart, with completion planned within five years.
An aerotropolis plan around U-Tapao
Another major initiative is an agreement with Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone to design an aerotropolis, or airport city, around U-Tapao airport. The airport serves the three EEC provinces and the project is meant to improve links between Zhengzhou and Thailand while expanding regional logistics.
The EEC itself was launched in 2017 to stimulate development in Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao. Authorities say foreign investment should bring more than capital alone.
What Thailand says it wants
Korthong said the goal is for investment to deliver practical benefits for local communities, from new technologies to training and jobs. He also said some Chinese road-building firms are already considering property development projects inside the industrial corridor.
Song Seng Wun, an economic adviser based in Singapore, said Chinese companies are looking to diversify supply chains beyond China, and that Thailand is well placed to attract such investment.
For Thailand, the numbers underline how industrial policy, transport planning and geopolitical shifts are now linked in one corridor. For businesses watching Southeast Asia, the EEC is emerging as one of the region’s most closely tracked investment zones.
