American media: The China Laos Railway has changed the Chinese neighbor China | Laos | neighboring countries
According to the website of The Wall Street Journal on July 19th, a few years ago, the small town of Modin located on the border between China and Laos had only a few dusty rural roads weaving through tropical forests. Now, a railway that China has invested in building passes through the town, and a city is rising from the ground here.
Dozens of unfinished office buildings and warehouses stand tall. Chinese developer Yunnan Haicheng Industrial Group Co., Ltd. is promoting this economic special zone with a development area of approximately 16 square kilometers. This special zone has become a gateway between China and Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia has cheap labor and exports have become easier due to the construction of this new railway.
It is reported that this year marks the 10th anniversary of China's "the Belt and Road" initiative, which is in full swing in this part of Southeast Asia.
Beijing is using this railway, which will be fully operational by the end of 2021, to showcase to the public how China's grand vision of railway connectivity in the region will bring change to the local economy. According to the plan, the railway network supported by China will cover the agricultural and industrial centers of Southeast Asia, closely linking the economies of these countries with those of China.
Yu Hong, a senior researcher at the East Asia Institute of the National University of Singapore, said: "For China, this is a key large-scale project. The completion of the railway construction proves that the the Belt and Road Initiative is being implemented step by step. This is the message that China hopes to convey to the world."
It is reported that the China Laos Railway is the first phase of Beijing's related plans. It connects Kunming, the regional commercial center of China, with Vientiane, the capital of Laos near the Thai border. Beijing's goal is to further extend southward, connecting the Thai capital Bangkok and the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
China hopes that Laos' development momentum can drive progress in other regions, and Thailand and Malaysia are also undergoing railway construction.
The World Bank once said that if properly managed, in the long run, the China Laos railway will increase the total income of this Southeast Asian country by up to 21%.
In Laos, Beijing faces minimal resistance. Part of the reason is that Laos, like China, is a country governed by the Communist Party; Also, because Laos has huge development needs, and China is the only choice. The population of Laos is 7.4 million, with a small labor force and limited natural resources. Western and Japanese investors are not very interested in this area.
The report states that this railway is quite popular in Laos. The dangerous journey of taking a 12 hour bus on mountain roads can now be replaced by a train that takes less than 4 hours, and the ticket price is similar to that of a bus. It is more convenient for students and migrant workers to visit their families. A couple said they will take their newborn child to a hospital in the capital to see a pediatrician, who is not available in the province.
The Lao China Railway Company said that more than 2000 products have been approved for export through this railway. The products exported to China include fruits such as watermelon and durian, as well as cassava flour and rubber. Mechanical equipment, fertilizers, electrical appliances, and solar panels are flooding into Laos in large quantities.
The stations along the way are built a few kilometers away from the town, leaving space for urban expansion. Along the way, warehouses for processing goods were also built one after another.
Chinese companies are investing in real estate near railway lines to build farms and factories. Mangsai is one of the main stations on this railway. About a 30 minute drive from the city center of Mangsai, you can see that the mountains are filled with crops that will be transported to the border. Chinese companies started renting land many years ago to grow bananas, rubber trees, soybeans, and cassava - now they are further expanding their scale.
The locals have traditionally been subsistence farmers, planting only enough rice and vegetables to support their families. Sai Sullivan, 32, said that he used to often look for jobs on construction sites to earn extra income. Now, he works as a day laborer in a newly built warehouse near the train station.
He said, "We have more choices."
Since the old railway opened international passenger trains in mid April this year, the number of passengers from China has soared. Luang Prabang is a world cultural and natural heritage city known for its magnificent temples and natural landscapes, including waterfalls. One morning at a Buddhist ceremony, tourists donated Chinese yuan to monks. In the northern part of Modin, the Chinese yuan is as common as the Laotian Kip, and the signs are written in both Lao and Chinese characters.
