WORLD
First train of China-Laos Railway leaves Vientiane for China
Baku, December 3, AZERTAC
The first train of the China-Laos Railway left here on Friday afternoon soon after the cross-border railway is officially put into operation, Xinhua reports.
Among the cargo loaded on the train are potash products manufactured by a China-Lao joint venture named Sino-Agri International Potash Company.
The 1,035-km electrified passenger and cargo railway, connecting Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province with the Lao capital, Vientiane, fully adopts Chinese technical standards and consists of two sections.
Construction of the section in Laos from the border town of Boten to Vientiane started in December 2016, and construction of the section in China from the city of Yuxi to border town of Mohan started in December 2015.
As a docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country into a land-linked hub, the railway is of great significance to bilateral economic, social and cultural exchanges as well as the regional connectivity.
With a maximum operating speed of 160 km per hour, the travel time from Kunming to Vientiane takes about 10 hours, including customs clearance time.