China-Laos Railway improving lives, trade

The China-Laos Railway has significantly increased employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for residents along the line, accelerated the development of local tourism, significantly increased domestic and foreign trade and continuously increased local investment, according to a recent survey and statistics from the Laotian government.

The survey, initiated by the Shanghai Institute of Technology in China and conducted by teachers from Souphanouvong University in Luang Prabang, Laos, was designed to determine the impact the railway has had on the lives of residents along the line.

Since 2017, the two universities have worked together to train Laotian engineers to work for China-Laos Railway Co, which is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the 1,035-kilometer railway.

The railway, which began construction in 2016 and started operating on Dec 3, 2021, connects Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, and Vientiane, the Laotian capital. The journey between the two cities on the railway's bullet train takes 10 hours.

A total of 1,000 Lao people participated in the survey by filling out online questionnaires on WeChat groups, Facebook and other social media platforms, according to the Belt and Road Lancang-Mekong Railway Interconnection Center of SIT, which revealed the results of the survey during a symposium on March 29.

Most of the respondents — mainly students and farmers — have traveled on the China-Laos Railway many times, and more than 60 percent of the respondents said that doing so reduced their commutes, according to the survey.

It used to take four days to travel between the south of Laos and the north, but with the railway, it now takes less than half a day.

The railway, which has also cut transportation costs between China and Laos by 20 to 40 percent and has more than halved freight transportation time — compared with the time transporting freight on roads — has also helped boost consumption among residents who live along the line, as they are now traveling and shopping more, the survey shows.

Phakhasith Phomchlueth, consul general of the Laotian Consulate in Shanghai, said at the symposium that the opening of the railway has changed the way people travel in northern Laos, and has promoted trade and cultural exchanges.

Citing statistics from the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Laos, Phomchlueth said that most of the passengers traveling from Vientiane to Luang Prabang prefer to travel by train, which currently transports about 2,700 passengers between the two cities each day.