Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed an increasing number of Lao tourists thanks to the convenient China-Laos Railway services and favorable visa-free policies.
To better cater to Lao tourists, major scenic areas across Xishuangbanna have upgraded their facilities, adding multilingual guide signs, ensuring full coverage of mobile payment, and improving supporting services in accommodation, communication and catering.
"I hope I will have the chance to come again, because this place is very beautiful, and I really like it. The natural scenery is very stunning, and the aquatic and land animals are very pretty," said a Lao tourist.
Benefiting from visa-free policies and the China-Laos Railway services, the number of tourists from Laos to Xishuangbanna continues to rise. In the first four months of this year, the number of Lao overnight tourists to Xishuangbanna increased by 25.75 percent year on year.
"Lao tourists no longer need to prepare paperwork far in advance as before. Now, with just one or two days, you can arrange your itinerary and book railway tickets and then organize a trip to our beautiful Xishuangbanna," said Yan Hanpeng, a tour guide.
Local Mohan border checkpoint has implemented various convenient measures, such as 24-hour barrier-free clearance, improving on-site border inspection efficiency by over 30 percent.
Last year, the number of foreign passengers entering the Mohan Railway Port visa free reached over 13,400, up 48 percent year on year.
China released a new visa relaxation policy in Feb 2025, allowing tour groups from Laos and other ASEAN member states to visit Xishuangbanna visa free for up to six days.
China's Xishuangbanna sees growing Lao tourist numbers due to favorable transportation, policies
Ugandan scientists are accelerating vaccine research and development efforts to curb the Bundibugyo strain of the ongoing Ebola outbreak, which is spreading across the country and in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Scientists at the Uganda Virus Research Institute are collaborating with global health organizations and pharmaceutical companies in developing an effective vaccine.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Bundibugyo virus, which currently lacks approved vaccines or specific therapeutics, is one of three ebolavirus species that cause large Ebola outbreaks, alongside the Zaire and Sudan viruses.
Pontiano Kaleebu, director of the Uganda Virus Research Institute, told CGTN (The China Global Television Network) that researchers at the institute are examining whether existing Ebola vaccine options can offer protection for the Bundibugyo virus, and they are also studying whether experimental drugs used to treat other Ebola strains can work against the new strain.
"The health workers got some of these vaccines for Zaire, and if you boost them with another vaccine - let's say the Sudan vaccine [which is] not yet licensed but available - do you broaden the immune response and [make] people protected?" Kaleebu said in a recent interview.
Although uncertainties remain, ongoing clinical trials are designed to provide clearer answers.
Researchers are also exploring options for conducting trials in both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including the use of antibodies from Ebola survivors.
According to Kaleebu, similar tests were conducted during the West African Ebola outbreak in 2014-2016, and the results were successful.
"We already have individuals who got infected with Zaire, those who got infected with Bundibugyo, those who got infected with Sudan. If you get their antibodies, can they kill the other one, can someone who has antibodies against Zaire, can those antibodies work against Budibugyo? Those lab studies are also being planned," he said.
The WHO says a promising vaccine trial by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative could be available in as little as seven months.
Following a visit to an Ebola isolation unit at a hospital in Uganda's capital Kampala on Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the need to accelerate research and development efforts, including work currently underway on monoclonal antibodies and antiviral treatments for Ebola. He noted that investment in vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics remains critical for future outbreak preparedness.
He also reaffirmed WHO's commitment to supporting Uganda's response and emphasized that governments must remain at the center of emergency response efforts.
"There are other support we give - I already told you the emergency medical team, I mean the emergency medical training we started many years ago and many Ugandans were certified, I think I had 148 [of them] - that helps in preparedness and that helps in response," the WHO chief said.
According to the WHO and health authorities in both Uganda and the DRC, most of the 19 confirmed Ebola cases in Uganda are imported from the DRC, where the latest outbreak was declared by its health ministry in mid-May, with the confirmed infections rising to 689 and the death toll reaching 139 as of Friday.
Uganda fast-tracks vaccine development for Bundibugyo Ebola strain
