The Lao-China Railway (LCR) has transported more than 10 million tons of freight so far in 2026, more than triple the three million tons recorded across the entire first half of 2025.
The railway averaged over 67,000 tons per day, with cross-border cargo exceeding 2.5 million tons, as reported by Chinese state media as of 14 June.
Since operations began in late 2021, the railway has carried more than 73 million passenger trips, including 840,000 cross-border trips, and moved 80 million tons of freight in total.
Cold chain logistics have driven notable growth.
Refrigerated trains, which have connected China, Laos, and Thailand since February 2023, now deliver fresh fruit from Southeast Asia to Chinese markets in as little as three days.
China imported more than 185,000 tons of fruit via the railway so far this year, a 73.1 percent increase over the same period in 2025.
The range of goods carried has grown from just over 10 commodity types at launch to more than 3,800 today, reaching 31 Chinese provinces and 19 countries and regions.
This growth in freight activity has been accompanied by infrastructure expansion along the line.
In early June, Boten Railway Station in Luang Namtha Province launched its first expansion and renovation since the line opened, the first large-scale upgrade on the Lao section.
At the same time, Laos is also expanding its rail connectivity beyond the existing network.
At an intergovernmental international railway conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from 9 to 12 June, Lao railway authorities signed an agreement bringing Laos into an international rail framework stretching from Vientiane to the Baltic Sea through China, Vietnam, Central Asia, and Russia.
