China-Laos Railway facilitates movement of commodities, people

At 7:30 a.m., a train carrying durians and mangosteens from Thailand arrived at a container freight station in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Upon its arrival, cranes began transferring the first container onto a truck for delivery to another city in a matter of minutes.

A worker carries two boxes of durians from Thailand at a container freight station in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (People's Daily Online/Li Faxing)

At 7:30 p.m., a train loaded with vegetables, flowers, electronic products, and solar panels left the station. It traveled south along the China-Laos Railway, exiting China through Mohan Port and arriving at Vientiane South Station in Laos the next day.

"Durians picked in Thailand are sorted and pre-processed before being transported to Vientiane, Laos. There, they are loaded onto the Lancang-Mekong Express international freight train, which offers a faster and more efficient transportation option. Within a maximum of four days, the durians arrive in Kunming, twice as fast as by road. This not only ensures quicker delivery but also helps maintain the quality of the durians," said Zhang Dehuan, deputy general manager of the Yunnan branch of an international logistics company.

A "Lancang" high-speed train passes through the China-Laos Railway's Friendship Tunnel. (Photo/Xu Zhangwei)

The railway department of Yunnan Province has introduced new transport routes, such as the Shanghai-Kunming Lancang-Mekong Express, to improve the transportation of goods. One new international transportation model, which combines the China-Laos Railway and the China-Europe freight train service, has reduced the direct railway transportation time from Laos, Thailand, and other countries to Europe to just 15 days.

Passengers wait to go through entry procedures at Mohan Port on China's border with Laos in southwest China's Yunnan Province. (People's Daily Online/Li Faxing)

The China-Laos Railway not only transports goods but also facilitates the movement of tens of thousands of people along its route. Since its launch in April 2023, the China-Laos Railway's international passenger service has made it possible for travelers to reach Vientiane from Kunming on the same day.

A tourist is interviewed by People's Daily Online. (People's Daily Online/Fu Hao)