(Yicai) Dec. 5 -- The China-Laos Railway, a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative, has celebrated its second anniversary.

Some 24.2 million passenger trips have been completed on the China-Laos Railway since it was put into operation on Dec. 3, 2021, according to data from the National Railway Administration. About 29.1 million metric tons of cargo were also transported in the period.

After the China-Laos Railway was put into operation, the Chinese cities of Kunming, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shanghai opened direct international freight trains to Laos’ capital city Vientiane.

The international passenger route between Kunming in Yunnan province and Vientiane opened on April 13, shortening the travel time between the two cities to 64 minutes.

The trains on the China-Laos Railway can also shift from the standard route and reach Thailand, saving time and transportation costs. Moreover, the China-Laos Railways is connected to the China-Europe Railway Express.

Trains from China can reach Thailand’s capital city Bangkok and Laem Chabang Port, creating new access to the South China Sea, thus helping the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to establish a new corridor with China and Europe, as well as strengthening the industrial complementarity between China and the ASEAN, reducing transportation costs, and forming a comparative advantage.

The China-Laos Railway also stimulated Thailand and Vietnam to accelerate the construction of the eastern and central lines of the Trans-Asian Railway.

The Thai government repeatedly said that it needs to speed up the construction of the China-Thailand railroad to connect China, Laos, and Thailand as soon as possible.

Vietnam changed its attitude and restarted the plan to build a high-speed railway line between the country and China. Vietnam’s minister for transport visited China in May to talk with his Chinese counterpart, the National Railway Administration, China Communications Construction, CRRC, China State Railway Group, China Railway Construction, and China Railway Group.

Editor: Futura Costaglione