China-Laos Railway already seeing success

The China-Laos Railway, a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative, has made "remarkable achievements" in various aspects since it came into operation last year, a senior Yunnan provincial official said.

"The railway, which was put into use last December, is a flagship project of mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Laos," said Shi Yugang, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China Yunnan Provincial Committee, on Wednesday in a group interview on the sidelines of the ongoing 20th CPC National Congress.

So far, over 7.5 million passengers and more than 8.69 million metric tons of goods have been transported, he said, adding that 1.25 million tons were delivered in September alone, a new high for a single month.

In addition, the railway has also "stimulated the vitality of development" along the line, the official said.

"In the first eight months of this year, the value of exports from Laos to Yunnan was more than 5 billion yuan ($691 million), up 30 percent year-on-year," Shi said.

"The value of their exported tapioca flour alone reached $250 million, benefiting a wide range of farmers," he added.

What's more, the railway's driving effect initially appeared.

"At present, the Laos-Thailand Railway linking the two capitals of Vientiane and Bangkok is speeding up (its construction) and will be connecting to the China-Laos Railway in the near future," Shi said.

For the next phase, the senior official said Yunnan is implementing the China-Laos Railway three-year action plan so that the "golden channel" can better promote the opening up of the province.

To that end, the province established a border port in its capital city of Kunming, through which people and goods can leave the country directly without having to go through extra customs transfer procedures, he said, noting that it is unique for Kunming, as the capital city of an inland province, to have such a port.

Also, the transnational railway is now involving more provincial areas nationwide.

"There have been 25 provinces that have opened cross-border freight trains on the China-Laos Railway," Shi said. "And we have run the Lancang-Mekong Express Line regularly, with more than 200 trains running."