Feasibility Study on BRI Railway Link in Myanmar to Take 18 Months Kyaukphyu, a major town in Rakhine State, western Myanmar. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy 4.4k By Nan Lwin 14 January 2021 YANGON—Myanmar and China have agreed to complete a feasibility study within one and a half years on the Mandalay-Kyaukphyu Railway, a major part of China’s planned strategic railway linking China’s rail network in Yunnan province’s Kunming with Myanmar’s Kyaukphyu port in western Rakhine State, Myanma Railways said. On Jan. 10, Myanmar and China signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to begin the study for the Mandalay-Kyaukphyu Railway project, a part of the US$20-billion (26.5-trillion-kyat) China-Myanmar Railway project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).