At 13:49 on June 13, 2023, the D888 passenger train arrived at Mohan Station on time. At Mohan Station, passengers line up to go through the immigration formalities in an orderly manner. Within one and a half hours of the stop time, all personnel under the supervision of the border inspection authorities guided by the railway department into the duty site for inspection, and the train left on time at 15:19.

On April 13, 2023, the China-Laos Railway Kunming South Station and Vientiane Station opened two-way international passenger trains, Kunming to Vientiane to achieve the same day. As of June 3, the China-Laos railway has been in operation for 18 months, showing a prosperous trend of both passengers and goods, with a total of 16.4 million passengers and 21 million tons of cargo.

According to Li Bing, head of the special duty team of the railway port at Mohan Border Inspection Station, a special channel for Chinese citizens has been set up at the duty site, and entry cards are issued in advance for foreign passengers to shorten the customs clearance time. In addition, according to the characteristics of the instantaneous peak of the railway port, the Immigration Department has set up 12 channels, each channel can pass three to five people per minute on average, and each train can complete the customs clearance within one hour.

Xiong Xuya, who lives in Laos, took the China-Laos railway bus to Yunnan. Xiong Xuya said that before the train did not open, she took a bus to China, now the train opened, not only very convenient, but also save time, many people in our country want to travel to China, I also two or three days in advance to buy a ticket.

The first train departs from Kunming South Railway Station on April 13

The opening of the China-Laos railway has brought development opportunities along the route. In the China-Laos Mohan-Boten Economic Cooperation Zone near the China-Laos border, the reporter saw that the construction of the Seine area was in progress, and the Laos side of Boten was also rising tall buildings. Mohan is planning to build areas such as modern logistics, financial bonded, urban functions, cultural tourism and health care, and Motin will also build diversified industrial clusters such as international duty-free shopping, commodity trade, financial services, and bonded processing.

According to reports, at present, 25 provinces (regions, municipalities) in China have opened China-Laos railway cross-border cargo trains, cargo transport has covered Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and other countries and regions along the Belt and Road, the category of goods from the initial opening of fertilizer, general merchandise and other 10 kinds of expansion to electronics, photovoltaic, cold chain fruit and other 2,000 kinds.

Olatai, a plant import and export expert who used to work in Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, said: In the past, large quantities of durians were transported to China mainly by road and sea, which were affected by uncertainties such as weather and sometimes took up to 20 days. This time, through the China-Laos railway transportation, it takes three days to arrive in Kunming from Thailand, and Thailand can export more mature durian, thereby improving the taste of durian.

The China-Laos railway is a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. Since the opening of operation on December 3, 2021, the railway departments of China and Laos have adhered to the goal of high standards, sustainability and benefiting people's lives, and made every effort to maintain and operate the China-Laos railway. With the continuous growth of passenger and cargo transport, significant improvement in service quality and increasing radiation effect, the China-Laos Railway has become a road of development, happiness and friendship for the people of China and Laos.Editor/Ma Xue