On June 5, 2026, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the leaders of China and Laos shook hands again. This is the visit of Lao General Secretary Thongloun to China again after nearly nine months.   At Mohan Port, hundreds of kilometers away, a special cold chain train full of durian is slowly entering China - the China Laos Railway, which has been open to traffic for four years, has grown from a simple railway to a veritable golden thoroughfare.

On the afternoon of June 5, 2026, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping held talks with General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and President Thongloun, who was on a state visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.  

From a landlocked country to a landlocked country

Laos used to have only one 3.5-kilometer railway connecting Thailand due to its high terrain and numerous mountains. In 2015, the leaders of China and Laos jointly decided to build the China Laos Railway. After the official opening on December 3, 2021, the travel time from Vientiane to the China Laos border has been shortened from 2 days to 3 hours, and the journey to Kunming has been completed overnight. Laos has completely overcome the dilemma of being a landlocked country. Chairman Thongloun stated in an interview that Laos does not have a sea, but has a railway leading to the sea.

On the afternoon of December 3, 2021, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President Xi Jinping, together with General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and President Thongloun, attended the opening ceremony of the China Laos Railway in Beijing via video link

The golden channel releases kinetic energy

In the four years since its opening, the number of cross-border freight trains has increased from 2 per day to a maximum of 23, and the types of transportation have expanded from more than 10 to more than 3800. The freight network radiates 19 countries and regions. In the first quarter of 2026, the import and export value of China Laos railway will reach 6.81 billion yuan, up 62.7% year on year. Among them, the export of China's new three products increased by 10.4 times, and the export of photovoltaic products increased by 43.2 times. The cumulative operation of passenger trains has exceeded 100000, sending 73.38 million passengers. Key words: strategic news, China Laos Railway

On April 15, 2026, railway supervision officers from Mengla Customs inspected imported durians at the designated fruit supervision site at Mohan Railway Port in Yunnan Province

One location, two inspections, and further acceleration

The current reform of "one place, two inspections and customs clearance" jointly promoted by China and Laos, after landing, passengers only need to board and disembark at the same station once to complete the four inspections of both countries, greatly reducing the clearance time. The railway dividend has sunk to the outskirts of rural areas: the number of tourists received in Nakoli, China has increased by more than 1.6 times, and the average annual tourism income of households in Manlongle Village has significantly increased. From a single transportation trunk line to a major economic and trade artery, and then to a bridge connecting people to people and cultural exchanges, the China Laos railway is becoming a road to promote the construction of a community with a shared future.Editor/Gao Xue