The governments of China and Laos sign the border railway agreement

　　At 11 a.m. on November 30, 2021, the signing ceremony of the "Border Railway Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic" was held in Beijing, China and Vientiane, Laos in video format.

Liu Zhenfang, director of the National Railway Administration of China, and Laos Minister of Public Works and Transport, Wanshava Sipandun, signed the agreement on behalf of the two governments.

　　As a landmark project of the two countries' joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and China-Laos friendship, the China-Laos Railway is of great significance to the two parties' joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and the establishment of a China-Laos community with a shared future.

The China-Laos Railway is an electrified passenger and freight transport railway with a design speed of 160 kilometers per hour (200 kilometers per hour is reserved for some sections), and construction was officially started in December 2016.

The total length of the line is 1,035 kilometers. It starts from Kunming City in Yunnan Province in the north, passes through China's Pu'er and Mohan border ports in the south, and then passes through Laos Boding border ports, Mong Sai, Luang Prabang, and Vang Vieng, and finally arrives at Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

The China-Laos Railway is a modern railway constructed with Chinese standards, advanced technology, high quality and high standards upholding the concept of green, ecological and environmental protection.

　　The China-Laos Border Railway Agreement is the first inter-governmental cooperation document in the field of railways between China and Laos. It is deepened by the National Railway Administration of China and the Lao Ministry of Public Works and Transport in the spirit of mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win, safety, quality, convenience and efficiency. The principles of friendship and model formation are mutually agreed upon. It aims to agree on important matters within the boundaries of the railway border stations of the two countries and their inter-station intervals. It is the basic rule for the two sides to carry out cross-border railway transportation and lays a solid foundation for cross-border transportation.

　　(CCTV reporter Wang Shiyu and Zhang Yong)