China and Laos open $6 billion high-speed rail link
A high-speed $ 6 billion train line that connects China with the Southeast Asian neighbor Laos opened on Friday, a historical milestone in Ambitious Beijing and road infrastructure plans.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Lao Counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith attended a virtual ceremony to mark the cruise of girls on the phone, which stretched from the Southwest Chinese City of Kunming to the capital of Laos Vientiane.
China, which holds 70% of the shares in a joint venture project signed in 2015, hopes that the line of 1,000 km (621.37 miles) will eventually develop through Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore.
In a video meeting between the two previous leaders on Friday, XI said the countries were established in the “new historical point”.
“China is willing to strengthen strategic communication with Laos, promote the development of belts and high quality roads, and continue to build a Chinese-Laos community that is not easily broken with a mutual future,” he said in comments published by CCTV Chinese state broadcasters. .
Economists have warned that railroad projects can make it difficult for Communist Laos, one of the poorest countries in Asia, to pay foreign debt, mostly owe China.
The Laos KPL state news agency said on Thursday this project was part of the government’s strategy to change Laos “from a country that was locked inland to a place related to land”.
