The first anniversary of the opening of the China-Laos Railway
Create a golden route to empower regional development
Reporter Zhang Fan Sun Guangyong Ye Chuanzeng
Starting from Kunming, Yunnan, China in the north, and connecting to Vientiane, Laos in the south, a series of giant steel dragons gallop across mountains and rivers on the 1,035-kilometer China-Laos Railway.
"The two sides must make persistent efforts to achieve good results, maintain and operate the railway well, develop and build the line along the line well, and build a golden line to benefit the people of the two countries." On December 3, 2021, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President Xi Jinping in At the opening ceremony of the China-Laos Railway, important instructions were given for this high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" landmark project.
The China-Laos Railway is the first international railway that adopts Chinese standards, is constructed and operated through cooperation between China and Laos, and is directly connected to the Chinese railway network.
As of December 2, 2022, the China-Laos Railway has transported a total of 11.2 million tons of goods, dispatched 8.5 million passengers, and operated 3,000 cross-border freight trains, with a value of cross-border transportation exceeding 13 billion yuan. Accelerator key" to run out of "acceleration".
Unimpeded domestic and international double circulation
This summer, many Kunming citizens were pleasantly surprised to find that the price of durians from Thailand on the market has dropped compared to previous years.
"There are two reasons for the price drop. On the one hand, the production of durian in Thailand has increased, and on the other hand, the opening of the China-Laos Railway has provided domestic distributors with a new purchase channel." Doing Thai fruits at the Jinma Zhengchang Fruit Wholesale Market in Kunming Dao Ling, who works in import and export trade, said.
Thailand exports a wide variety of fruits to China. In 2021, it will export about 2.2 million tons of fruits to China, with an export value of 163 billion baht.
Thanks to the strong demand in the Chinese market, the income of Thai fruit farmers has also continued to increase.
On April 24 this year, more than 500 tons of fresh durians were transported from Thailand to Vientiane, Laos, and then transported to Kunming through the China-Laos railway cold chain fruit train and port road connection, and then distributed to Shanghai, Chongqing and other places.
This is the first time that Thailand has exported durians to China in large quantities through the China-Laos Railway. The opening of the China-Laos Railway has brought new opportunities for Thai fruit exports to China.
"Railway transportation has the advantages of large volume, fast speed, and low cost. Thai fruits arrive in Kunming through the China-Laos Railway, and the entire transportation time does not exceed 7 days." said Xu Jiefeng, director of the marketing department of Kunming East Station of China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., Ltd. .
On November 30, the designated monitoring site for imported fruit at Mohan Railway Port passed the inspection and acceptance, and the function of the port has been further improved.
Under the supervision of Kunming Customs, more fruits from South and Southeast Asian countries can directly reach the domestic market through the China-Laos Railway.
At the same time, my country's fruits and vegetables and plateau characteristic agricultural products have also been exported abroad one after another, realizing two-way efficient transportation, benefiting more countries and regions along the route.
As a golden line connecting the domestic market with South Asian and Southeast Asian markets, the China-Laos Railway continues to stimulate vitality along the line and is becoming an important force for smooth domestic and international dual cycles.
In the past year since its opening, the China-Laos railway freight train has grown from an average of 1 pair per day at the beginning of its opening to an average of 6 pairs per day, realizing large-scale and normalized operations.
25 provinces in China have launched cross-border freight trains on the China-Laos Railway successively. The cargo transportation covers Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and other countries and regions. There are more than 1,200 kinds of products, cold chain fruits, etc.
Optimize the layout of the industrial chain and supply chain
As the starting point of the China-Laos Railway, various places along the Yunnan line adapt to local conditions, give full play to their advantages, and seize the opportunities brought by the opening of the railway.
In winter, walking into the steel transformation and upgrading project of Yuxi Yukun Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd., the machine roared on the 12,000 mu of land, tower cranes stood everywhere, and the construction site was a hot scene.
The total investment of the project is 21.2 billion yuan. After completion, it is expected to realize an annual industrial output value of about 36 billion yuan and provide more than 20,000 jobs.
"This vacant space is reserved for the dedicated railway line. At that time, a 3-kilometer-long dedicated railway line will be repaired from the main line of the China-Laos Railway to the factory area to facilitate the company's transportation of raw materials and products." General Department of Yukun Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd. Deputy Director Shi Chongde introduced that after the special railway line is completed and put into use, railway transportation will become the main mode of cargo transportation for enterprises, and will undertake half of the company's annual cargo transportation volume.
"The project is only 5 kilometers away from Huanian Freight Station on the China-Laos Railway, which is an important reason why the company chose to deploy here." Shi Chongde said that with the help of this important line of the China-Laos Railway, the company can effectively expand the radius of production and operation. Expand domestic and foreign markets.
Taking advantage of the "east wind" brought by the opening of the China-Laos Railway, since this year, Yuxi City has set up a special class for industrial chain work, focusing on key industrial chains such as new energy batteries, green steel, and biomedicine, to speed up the industrial layout along the railway, and seize Seize opportunities for development.
In order to develop and build the China-Laos Railway well, in February this year, the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government issued a three-year action plan for the development of the China-Laos Railway. According to the working idea of "channel + hub + industry + market subject", the implementation channel was proposed Capacity enhancement actions, logistics hub construction actions, industry development actions along the route, and market entity cultivation actions.
"The opening of the China-Laos Railway has brought historic opportunities for Yunnan to further participate in and integrate into the construction of the China-Laos Economic Corridor, drive industrial development and economic and social development in areas along the line, and accelerate the construction of a radiation center for South Asia and Southeast Asia." Member of the Party Leadership Group of the Yunnan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Yunnan Xu Dong, the full-time deputy director of the leading group office for promoting the construction of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, said.
Support high-level opening up
The first anniversary of the opening of the China-Laos Railway provides new opportunities for building a closer supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region and promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. The international demonstration effect it brings is gradually emerging.
Invited by the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Thailand Federation of Logistics Service Providers, on November 26, the China-Laos-Thailand Railway Multimodal Transport and Industrial Cooperation Along the Line organized by the Kunming South Asia and Southeast Asia International Logistics Research Institute set off for Vientiane, Laos. Conduct investigations.
"This is the first delegation composed of trade and logistics companies to investigate industrial development and construction along the line after the opening of the China-Laos Railway. During the period, experts and business representatives from both sides will conduct research and consultation on the multimodal transport of the China-Laos-Thailand Railway and the development and construction of industries along the line. , to promote the construction of the China-Laos Economic Corridor.” said Liu Jinxin, director of the Kunming South Asia and Southeast Asia International Logistics Research Institute.
Yunnan Tengjin Logistics Co., Ltd. is one of the representatives of Chinese enterprises in the delegation.
Wang Wenbin, assistant to the general manager of the company, said that taking advantage of this inspection opportunity, the company will carry out further cooperation with Lao enterprises on the normalization of international freight trains between dry ports and the joint construction of smart dry ports.
The opening of the China-Laos Railway has also made Yunnan a further frontier of my country's opening up, and better empowered Yunnan's high-level opening up.
At the end of May this year, Kunming officially managed Mohan Town, Mengla County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, and jointly built an international port city. Kunming became the provincial capital city with a border port.
Xu Chun, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of the Management Committee of the Mohan-Boten Economic Cooperation Zone in Laos, China, said that after the trusteeship of Mohan Town, all the preferential policies in Kunming that support the development of an export-oriented economy can be implemented in Mohan , to break the existing development bottleneck.
On the first anniversary of its opening and operation, the freight and passenger transport of the China-Laos Railway is busy, like a surging "main artery", boosting big trade, activating big industries, and empowering big openness.
Looking into the future, the China-Laos Railway will continue to drive regional connectivity, smooth domestic and international dual cycles, and promote the high-quality development of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".
(People's Daily)