Starting from the Mohan-Boten crossing at the China-Laos border, the 414-kilometer-long China-Laos railway will run south to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It is scheduled to open in December 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.
The construction officially got underway in December 2016, and 62.7 percent of the railway will consist of bridges and tunnels. The Laos-China Railway Co. Ltd. is responsible for the construction and operation of the line.
This 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 high-speed rail link in Indonesia – to be built with Chinese standards, management, technology and equipment. It will also be an important section of the pan-Asia railway network.
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.
