Railway anniversary: Customs witness prosperous “golden passage”

Editor’s note：
The Lancang-Mekong River nourishes the neighboring countries China and Laos, while the China-Laos Railway carries on the same dream of connectivity fromthe cloud province of Yunnanto the moon city ofVientiane.

December 3, 2022 marked the first anniversary of the opening of the China-Laos Railway. On this occasion, we interviewed representatives of five walks of life in the two countries, namely factory presidents, village heads, customs officers, school principals and train conductors. And they shared with us views on the development of the railway.

Since the China-Laos railway opened to traffic a year ago, the customs between two countries have seen more convenient transportation, faster customs clearance, and busier passenger and freight trains. The customs authorities of China and Laos have stayed in closer touch, working with relevant departments and local people in the construction, maintenance and operationof the railway.

In the video, Zhou Baohua, deputy director of the Chinese Customs of Mengla, and Vilakone Kettavong, director of the Lao Customs of Botenwere interviewed. They talked about the vitality of cross-border logistics.

Seizing the opportunity from implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) over the past year, Mengla Customs has improved customs clearance for international trains and other services. They carried out custom clearance around the clock every day, and optimized the entry and exit supervisions.

Produced by Yunnan International Communication Center for South and Southeast Asia (YICC); Trans-editing by Mo Yingyi