The China-Laos Railway, a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative, has handled 487,000 cross-border trips with passengers from 112 countries and regions in the past two years, according to China Railway Kunming Group.
Since the cross-border passenger service was officially launched on April 13, 2023, the railway linking Kunming of southwest China's Yunnan Province and Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, has facilitated increased trade, tourism, and cultural exchange between the two countries.
This year, tourist bookings from ASEAN countries to Xishuangbanna, a popular tourist destination in Yunnan Province, have increased by more than 250 percent this year, with hotel occupancy rates consistently exceeding 85 percent and a surge of over 35 percent in tourism spending.
To meet growing passenger demand, railway authorities have taken a series of targeted measures, including increasing the international passenger trains between Xishuangbanna and Laos' Luang Prabang from four to six days per week, and adding a stop at Nateuy station in Laos.
The number of cross-border passenger seats per train has increased from 250 at the outset to 390, while daily inbound and outbound passenger flow has surged from 300 to a peak of 1,300.
The railway has also stimulated investment and trade along the route. The Saysettha Development Zone in Vientiane has attracted over 150 companies from nine countries and regions, including China, Japan, and Malaysia, generating an annual output of over 2 billion U.S. dollars.
China-Laos Railway handles over 480,000 cross-border trips in 2 years
China's express delivery sector continued to post significant growth in the first 11 months of 2025, handling over 180 billion parcels to record a nearly 15 percent year-on-year increase, official data showed on Tuesday.
According to the State Post Bureau, the country's China's broader postal industry, which includes express delivery services, saw a total of 196.75 billion parcels from January through November, marking a 12.9 percent rise from the same period in 2024.
The postal industry's total business revenue exceeded 1.63 trillion yuan (over 230 billion U.S. dollars), up 6.7 percent year on year, the data showed.
Specifically, the overall express delivery revenue reached nearly 1.36 trillion yuan, a 7.1 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Same-city express deliveries amounted to 14.47 billion parcels, a 2.2 percent year-on-year increase, while cross-region deliveries surged by 16.3 percent to 162.44 billion parcels.
The total volume of express deliveries to overseas countries and China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions reached 3.83 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 11.3 percent.
In November alone, China's postal industry handled 19.49 billion parcels, up 3.8 percent year on year. Among these, more than 18 billion parcels were handled in express delivery sector, up 5 percent year on year.
In November, the postal industry's business revenue, excluding the direct business revenue of Postal Savings Bank, reached 162.68 billion yuan (over 23 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year decrease of 2.0 percent.
Specifically, express delivery revenue reached 137.65 billion yuan (around 19.5 billion U.S. dollars), showing a year-on-year decrease of 3.7 percent.
China's express delivery sector posts double-digit growth in first 11 months
