With the sound of rotary drilling rigs at Mohan Port, a modern inspection yard with a total investment of over 830 million yuan and an area of nearly 660 acres has officially started construction. The "channel economy" of this border town is accelerating its shift towards a diversified port economy.

On December 13, 2025, Mohan Port, located on the China Laos border, once again reached a development milestone - the Mohan Port Import and Export Inspection Yard, constructed by China Railway Sixth Bureau, officially broke ground. As a key node of Kunman International Channel, Mohan Port's upgrade is aimed at the growing cross-border logistics demand after the opening of the China Laos Railway. The new freight yard covers an area of about 660 acres and integrates customs clearance, inspection, and supervision, which will greatly alleviate port congestion. Its goal is not only to improve customs clearance efficiency, but also to promote the profound transformation of the regional economic model from a transit channel economy to a port economy with clustered industries.

Cracking the bottleneck of port clearance

Although Mohan Port is already the largest national level land port for Laos in China, its existing facilities are facing severe challenges. As the trade volume between China and ASEAN continues to rise, especially the golden line effect of the China Laos railway highlights, cross-border transportation of fruits, department stores and other commodities is increasingly busy, and ports are often congested. The newly established inspection yard is the core measure to break through this bottleneck. The project covers 11 individual buildings including customs declaration hall, intelligent checkpoint, and professional inspection warehouse. Through scientific zoning and process optimization, it will achieve one-stop collaborative operations between customs, border inspection and other departments, significantly reducing the time of goods detention. This is not only an expansion of infrastructure, but also a move towards smart ports in regulatory models, laying a solid foundation for achieving efficient customs clearance 24/7 and meeting the explosive growth of trade volume in the future. Keywords: the Belt and Road project news, the Belt and Road news

Drive the channel towards port economy

The profound significance of this upgrade goes far beyond hardware expansion itself. In the past, Mohan mainly played the role of a logistics channel, where goods passed through the intestines and had limited added value to the local economy. The new inspection yard will serve as a comprehensive hub to promote fundamental functional transitions. Firstly, through an efficient collection and distribution system, it can attract large logistics enterprises, cross-border e-commerce and processing trade enterprises to settle down, promoting the aggregation of logistics+industries. Secondly, the optimized land layout and transportation organization will promote the sedimentation of people, logistics, and information flow around the port, driving the development of supporting service industries such as commerce, finance, and tourism. Ultimately, the project will provide strong support for the construction of Mohan International Port City, transforming it from a border passage to a regional hub radiating the China Laos Thailand Economic Corridor, truly achieving a value transformation from flowing through to leaving behind.Editor/Cheng Liting