The China-Laos Railway has facilitated travel and the movement of goods along its route over the past three years.
The 1,035-kilometer railway, a flagship project within the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, connects China's southwestern city of Kunming with the Laotian capital of Vientiane.
Starting operation on Dec 3, 2021, it links the new western land-sea corridor and the China-Europe international railway network, extending its cross-border cargo transportation services to 19 countries and regions, including Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Over the past three years, the railway has transported more than 43 million passengers and 48 million tons of cargo, marking a surge of both passenger and cargo transport.
Feng Zhuoliang, a banana trader from Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, has benefited from the railway. His company buys approximately 1,000 tons of bananas each month from Mohan, a border town in Yunnan Province.
"I arrived yesterday afternoon. Since then, I've ordered two trucks of goods. My plan today is to purchase around three trucks more," said Feng.
Compared with the road transport, the China-Laos Railway can reduce transportation by three to four days, and lower losses caused from the handling of goods during border transits, Feng said.
The China-Laos Railway has also cut freight costs by 30 percent to 50 percent for shipment between Kunming and Thailand, and by 20 percent to 40 percent for transport within Laos.
In the last three years, the railway served 31 provinces, regions, and municipalities in China and 19 other countries and regions, including Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore.
In terms of the passenger transport, the daily trains on the China-Laos Railway's domestic section have risen from eight to a peak of 86, and on the international section from four to 16. Monthly passenger numbers have grown from over 600,000 to more than 1.6 million.
"The railway has significantly facilitated the travel for people along the route. We have added extra trains during weekends and holidays," said Dai Rui, a conductor of the Kunming Passenger Transport Section of China Railway Kunming Group.
China-Laos Railway enhances cross-border trade, travel
China-Laos Railway enhances cross-border trade, travel
The Chinese Embassy in South Africa on Monday held an event in Pretoria, the country's administrative capital, to celebrate the launch of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and African countries.
Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng said that over the past seven decades, under the joint guidance of leaders from both sides, China-Africa people-to-people and cultural exchanges have continued to expand, yielding fruitful outcomes.
Noting that the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, Wu said China and Africa need to uphold fairness and justice, strengthen solidarity and mutual assistance, and enhance exchanges and cooperation more than ever before.
Taking the launch of the China-Africa Year of People-to-people Exchanges as an opportunity, Wu called for upholding the original aspiration of friendship, solidifying the foundation of cooperation, enhancing two-way efforts, and accelerating the building of an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, South Africa's deputy minister of women, youth, and persons with disabilities, said South Africa and China enjoy strong and historic bonds of friendship as close international cooperation partners in the political, economic, social, technical and multilateral domains.
"The significance of people-to-people is really about how we elevate the people's life to a just and equitable stance that we want to see. We want a better Africa; we want a better world. And that for us is significant," said Letsike.
"Through people-to-people exchanges, we promote mutual understanding, and that is the basis of building mutual trust, building peaceful coexistence. People-to-people exchange is a very important instrument for peace and mutual understanding," said Bongani Maimele, director of international relations with South Africa's National School of Government.
The opening ceremony of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges was held at the African Union headquarters on Jan 8. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the two sides will jointly host nearly 600 cultural and people-to-people exchange activities in 2026 to enhance exchanges and mutual learning between the two civilizations, and promote mutual understanding and connection between the peoples.
Organizing the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges is an important consensus reached by leaders from both sides at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit in 2024.
Chinese Embassy in South Africa unveils 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges
