On the occasion of the second anniversary of the launch of the China-Laos Railway International Passenger Train, the reporter learned from China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., Ltd. that as of April 12, 2025, the China-Laos Railway International Passenger Train has sent a total of 487,000 cross-border passengers, covering 112 countries and regions around the world.
As of April 12, 2025, the China-Laos Railway has transported 487,000 cross-border passengers from 112 countries and regions since the launch of its international passenger train service two years ago, according to China Railway Kunming Group Co., Ltd.
On March 28, 2025, Sun Yiwei, the 50 millionth passenger of the China-Laos Railway, took a photo with her parents, crew members and passengers on the train. (Photo source: Xinhua News Agency)
【Knowledge Points】
On December 3, 2021, the China-Laos Railway, a flagship project for mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Laos and a landmark project for high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road” – was opened to traffic. From Kunming, China in the north to Vientiane, Laos in the south, the 1,035-kilometer steel dragon has become a “golden channel”. The China-Laos Railway has brought the dream of Lao people to “turning a land-locked country into a land-unit alliance” into reality, and has also written a brilliant stroke on the grand picture of the China-Laos community of shared future and the construction of the “Belt and Road”. In the more than three years since its opening, passenger and freight exchanges along the route have become more efficient, allowing people to enjoy their traffic and goods to flow smoothly. This road has become a road of happiness, development and friendship that benefit the people along the route.
In the more than three years since the opening of the China-Laos Railway, freight business has flourished and the logistics and transportation map has been continuously expanded, achieving a significant transformation from “from open to smooth, from smooth to fast, from fast to prosperous”. As of February 5, 2025, a total of 52.4 million tons of cargo have been transported, including 12.1 million tons of cross-border cargo. Cross-border cargo transportation has covered 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China and 19 countries and regions including Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and other countries; the types of cross-border goods transported have expanded to more than 3,000 types, covering multiple fields such as agricultural products, industrial products, and daily necessities, which has greatly promoted trade exchanges and economic cooperation between regions. On April 13, 2023, the China-Laos Railway launched an international passenger train, and the train was accessible on the same day from Kunming, China to Vientiane, Laos. As of March 28, 2025, the China-Laos Railway has launched a total of 71,000 passenger trains, sending more than 50 million passengers, attracting more than 480,000 passengers from 112 countries and regions around the world to travel across the border on international passenger trains. The benefits of the “Golden Channel” are becoming increasingly prominent.
【Important Speech】
The “Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement” officially came into effect, and the China-Laos Railway was completed and opened to traffic, effectively improving the level of hard and soft connectivity in the region. We must take this opportunity to promote the formation of a more open market in Asia and take new steps in promoting win-win cooperation in Asia.
The entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the opening to traffic of the China-Laos railway have effectively boosted institutional and physical connectivity in our region. We should seize these opportunities to foster a more open Asia-wide market and make new strides in mutually beneficial cooperation.
——On April 21, 2022, Xi Jinping’s keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia
【Related Words】
High-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road”
high-quality Belt and Road cooperation
Cultural exchange
people-to-people exchanges
China Daily Network English Dots and Tianjin Studio (this article was first published on the “Study Strong Country” learning platform)
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[Editor in charge: Chen Danni]
