China-Laos railway

In April 2010, an agreement was reached between China and Laos on the first China-Laos railway to be financed, built and operated jointly by both countries; it was approved by the Lao parliament in October 2012. A ground-breaking ceremony was held in December 2015 for the Lao section of the line. The construction of China-Laos railway officially got underway on December 25, 2016, following a ceremony held in the northern Lao city of Luang Prabang.

This planned line is China’s first overseas railway project to provide a direct link to China’s internal rail network, and the second such project – after the Jakarta-Bandung rail link in Indonesia – to be built with Chinese technology and equipment to meet Chinese standards. It will also be an important section of the pan-Asia railway network.

Starting from the Mohan-Boten crossing at the China-Laos border, the 400-kilometer-long line will run south to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. 63 percent of the railway will consist of bridges and tunnels. It is scheduled to open in 2021, with a design speed of 160 kilometers per hour. The investment in the project will be about 40 billion Chinese yuan (US$5.76 billion), 70 percent of which comes from China and the remainder from Laos.

Once in service, the railway will significantly boost the economic and social development of Laos, facilitate local transportation and improve its efficiency, and expand cooperation between China and Laos in areas such as trade, investment and tourism. It will contribute to the development of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, and inject new life into the economy in China’s southwest region.

中老鐵路

2010年4月，中國與老撾兩國間首次就合資建設、共同經營中老鐵路達成共識；2012年10月，老撾國會批準了中老鐵路項目；2015年12月，中老鐵路老撾段舉行了奠基儀式；2016年12月25日，中老鐵路全線開工儀式在老撾北部瑯勃拉邦舉行。中老鐵路不僅是第一個以中方為主投資建設、共同運營并與中國鐵路網直接聯通的境外鐵路項目，也是繼印尼雅萬高鐵項目之后第二個全面采用中國標準、中國技術和裝備的國際鐵路建設項目，該條線路同時也將成為泛亞鐵路網的重要組成部分。中老鐵路北起兩國邊境磨憨——磨丁口岸，南至萬象，全長400多公里，其中62.7%以上路段為橋梁和隧道，設計時速160公里，預計2021年建成通車，總投資近400億人民幣，由中老雙方按70%和30%的股比合資建設。中老鐵路項目建成后，一方面將極大地帶動老撾經濟社會發展，提高當地運輸效率和水平，擴大和提升老中兩國在經濟、貿易、投資、旅游等領域的合作，進一步增強中國—東盟自貿區的經濟聯系，另一方面也將為中國西南地區經濟發展注入新的動力。