Three years on, China-Laos Railway keeps unleashing vitality

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

By Sun Guangyong, Yang Yi, People's Daily

The international railway, stretching from Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan province to the Lao capital Vientiane, has continuously bolstered transport capacity and enhanced regional connectivity.

With its influence extended to other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia, the railway has become a golden transport corridor linking Chinese and international markets, benefiting countries along the route.

At dawn, Onkeo, a local girl, weaved through a crowded platform at the Vientiane Railway Station, ready to board her train. Every month, she takes the China-Laos Railway to visit her grandmother in her hometown of Muang Xay, a city in northern Laos.

"In the past, it took a full day and night to travel from Vientiane to Muang Xay by car, but now, it's just about three hours by train," Onkeo said.

As Laos' first modern railway, the China-Laos Railway has not only changed the way local people travel, but provided international travelers with a new option.

Three years since its launch, the average daily number of passenger trains handled by the Lao section of the railway has grown from 4 to 14, with daily passenger trips surging from over 1,000 to nearly 15,000.

According to data from Laos' Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism, over 85 percent of the travelers from Vientiane to Luang Prabang chose the China-Laos Railway as a favorable mode of transport.

Thonglor Duangsavanh, editor-in-chief of Vientiane Times, noted that Laos previously struggled with inconvenient transport options. The China-Laos Railway provides tourists with an accessible and affordable way to travel, he added. He expected more tourists to visit Laos by train to experience the country's unique natural landscapes and way of life.

As of Nov. 30 this year, the China-Laos Railway had handled 42.92 million passenger trips, with the Lao section alone having transported 7.41 million passengers and 10.74 million tons of goods. The range of goods transported via the railway has expanded from initially over 10 varieties, such as rubber, fertilizers, and general merchandise, to over 2,700 types currently, including electronics, photovoltaics, telecommunications equipment, and automobiles. This has effectively driven industrial upgrades and international trade along the route.

Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone told People's Daily that over the past three years, the China-Laos Railway has allowed Lao people to travel much more easily and facilitated the movement of goods and passengers in the whole region. It has played a crucial role in enhancing regional connectivity and trade facilitation, said Siphandone.

In addition to driving economic growth, the China-Laos Railway has also boosted employment in Laos. Over the past three years, thousands of Lao trainees have joined training programs to learn professional skills in locomotive operation, maintenance, passenger and freight transportation, and shunting, among others.

As of October this year, there are over 1,000 Lao employees working on the railway, accounting for 61.3 percent of the total workforce. They are playing an increasingly prominent role in railway safety management, passenger and freight transportation, equipment operation and maintenance, and other areas. Besides, the railway has created over 100,000 jobs in Laos.

With the launch of the Lancang-Mekong Express service, the transit time from Kunming to Vientiane has been reduced from three days to just one day. Besides, the China-Laos Railway has formed an international logistic artery by linking with the China-Europe freight train service and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, which has shortened the time needed to transport goods directly from Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and other Southeast Asian countries to Europe to 15 days. The interconnected railway has provided a more convenient and efficient logistics corridor linking China with South Asia and Southeast Asia, contributing to regional economic development and prosperity.

Over the past three years, the Lancang-Mekong Express has handled over 15,000 international cargo trains, transporting over 10.6 million tons of import and export goods, with a cargo value exceeding 44 billion yuan ($6.05 billion).

According to Deng Yu, head of freight business at Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd., the Chinese goods transported via the China-Laos railway can be transshipped through Laos to other ASEAN countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. Additionally, the Lao goods imported to China can reach 25 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, Deng added.

Driven by the China-Laos Railway, Southeast Asian countries are speeding up railway development and strategic coordination to enhance regional connectivity.

In July this year, the Thailand-Laos cross-border passenger train service began its operation, enhancing rail connectivity between Thailand and Laos while linking up with the China-Laos Railway; Thailand is speeding up the construction of the China-Thailand Railway; the ASEAN Express, an international freight train connecting Malaysia to Thailand, Laos and China, has already been launched, boosting Malaysia's trade connectivity with China and Southeast Asia.

Malaysia is also advancing its East Coast Rail Link project, actively pursuing connections with Thailand's high-speed rail network, and pushing for the construction of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail; and Indonesia is conducting the feasibility study for extending its Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway from Jakarta to Surabaya, the country's second-largest city.

Surasit Thanadtang, director of the Thai-Chinese Strategic Research Center, National Research Council of Thailand, said that the railway network is enabling Southeast Asian countries to accelerate connectivity and access broader market opportunities.

"Greater regional connectivity helps reduce logistics costs, facilitates the movement of people, creates more development opportunities, and drives regional economic integration," he said.