On 3 December, the Laos-China Railway celebrated its third anniversary.
Since its launch in 2021, the railway has transported 4.3 billion passengers, including over 740,000 passengers within Laos. It has also moved 4,830 tons of goods.
The Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism reported that 85 percent of passengers in Laos traveled between Vientiane Capital and Luang Prabang during this period.
Over the three years since its opening, daily passenger numbers have increased significantly from 20,000 to around 100,000. The range of freight transported has also expanded from 10 categories to over 3,000, featuring Lao exports such as BeerLao, durian, cassava flour, mangoes, and other products bound for the Chinese market.
Between 2021 and 2024, the Laos-China Railway has seen significant growth in both sectors.
In the first ten months of 2024, the railway transported 3 million passengers.
On the freight side, the railway transported 3.58 million tons of goods in the first eight months of 2024, a 22.8 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023.
Citing statistics from Kunming Customs, the railway’s freight operations have also grown significantly over the past three years.
By 2024, the railway had transported over 10.6 million tons of import and export goods, valued at more than 44 billion yuan (approximately USD 6.05 billion). In comparison, on 17 January 2022, Kunming Customs approved an international freight train carrying 59,500 tons of goods worth 1.068 billion yuan (approximately USD 147 million).
