The 1,035-kilometer-long China-Laos Railway, a signature project under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, officially went into full operation on Friday, catapulting the landlocked Southeast Asian nation into a Chinese standard-powered modern railway era that honors China's promise of enabling inclusive growth along the BRI routes.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith witnessed the opening of the railway via video link.
The opening of the China-Laos Railway will make Laos' dream of becoming a land-linked hub come true. China will ensure the maintenance and security of the railway and build high-quality, sustainable and people-friendly economic belts along the route, President Xi told Thongloun via video link.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, and Thongloun Sisoulith, general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao president, jointly witness the opening of the China-Laos railway via video link, Dec 3, 2021.Photo:Xinhua
Xi stressed that both China and Laos adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party and the socialist orientation, which is the essence of their bilateral relations. The two sides should jointly safeguard the political and institutional security of China and Laos.
Xi said serving the people is the common purpose of the two parties, and the relationship between China and Laos should also emphasize the people's supremacy to benefit the people of both countries more.
The first train of the China-Laos Railway left on Friday afternoon soon after the cross-border railway was officially put into operation. Among the cargo loaded on the train were potash products manufactured by a China-Laos joint venture named Sino-Agri International Potash Company, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The thrill of getting on board new bullet trains in Laos, where locals' impression of railway had long been underwhelmed by a 3.5-kilometer run-down railway connecting Laos' capital Vientiane and Lao's border with Thailand, is seen as effectively silencing unfounded Western criticism over BRI-enabled benefits, according to regional affairs watchers and those participating in the dream-come-true project.
Facts about the China-Laos railway. Graphic: Feng Qingyin/GT
New chapter in Laos' history
The China-Laos Railway, the biggest public project in Laos' history, links Kunming of Southwest China's Yunnan Province with Laos' capital Vientiane, including a 106-kilometer section from Kunming to Yuxi in Yunnan with a designed speed of 200 kilometers per hour, which had already been put into operation in December 2016.
The newly built 507-kilometer section connecting Yuxi and Mohan, a border town in Yunnan, with a designed speed of 160 kilometers per hour, adds to another 422-kilometer new section from Mohan to Vientiane, also designed to travel at 160 kilometers per hour, China Railway said in a statement sent to the Global Times.
The Yuxi-Mohan section was built by China Railway Kunming Group, while the Mohan-Vientiane section, largely within Laos, was built by a China-Laos joint venture.
