The Belt and Road Initiative: 10 years on
A look into China’s ambitious global infrastructure strategy and its impact in South-east Asia.
LUANG PRABANG/XISHUANGBANNA – On a drizzly afternoon in Luang Prabang, an expectant crowd gathered around the exit of its railway station. August rains tend to keep visitors away from this picturesque town in northern Laos. But things were different this year.
The country, which in 2021 launched a railway line connecting it to China, has drawn increasing numbers of overland visitors ever since cross-border passenger services began in April.
The 1,000km Laos-China Railway, built under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, connects the south-western Chinese city of Kunming to the Laotian capital of Vientiane. The 422km section within Laos cost US$5.9 billion (S$8 billion) and was funded under an arrangement that gives the Chinese majority control of the network.
Luang Prabang is less than eight hours away from Kunming and two from Vientiane by this new railway line. Its old town is a world heritage site and arguably Laos’ biggest tourist attraction. This makes Luang Prabang’s station one of the busiest stations among the 10 passenger stations within Laos.
At its vast, curved-roof station, minivan drivers, tour guides and other greeters craned their necks to spot their Chinese guests alighting from the daily cross-border train.
Among them was Ms Zhang Huashuang, a Chinese national who had opened a small hotel in Luang Prabang this year. Her hotel was so new it had not even been listed on travel portals, so the 35-year-old was at the railway station to hand out name cards to draw the attention of travellers to her lodge.
“Things are slowly getting better,” she told The Straits Times. “There are many independent travellers, those who bring their children here for holidays, as well as those who are checking local conditions because they want to start a business here.”
The Luang Prabang station is part of the Laos-China Railway
With no knowledge of the Lao language, she had got by with translation software and the help of other Chinese entrepreneurs in Luang Prabang.
“Chinese people are very united,” said Ms Zhang, who hails from the northern Chinese province of Shandong more than 2,000km from Laos. “It’s pretty good. Look at me, I don’t speak the Lao language, but there are many friends here who helped me, people who have been here a long time.”
The Laotian government hopes the railway through the landlocked country’s mountainous north to the Chinese economic powerhouse will lower logistical costs and spur development.
Since its launch in April, the passenger rail service has ferried more than 50,000 people across the Laos-China border – with the majority heading from China to Laos.
Train tickets can be purchased using a mobile application and paid with e-wallet services such as WeChat Pay, AliPay and UnionPay, all of which are common in China. Such ease of travel has drawn independent Chinese travellers, in contrast to the large, itinerary-driven tour groups that Chinese were associated with before the Covid-19 pandemic.
A one-way ride from Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, to Vientiane ranges from 542 yuan (S$102) for the cheapest, second-class seat to 864 yuan for a first-class seat.
“This was our first time travelling out of the country via rail,” said a female tourist from Sichuan province which abuts Yunnan. She declined to be named. “To get to other places, we have to travel by plane. Our train ride here was pretty good – convenient and safe,” said the woman, who was travelling with a male companion.
The railway has also been a conduit of tourists to China, albeit on a far smaller scale. While official figures showed that about 220 people, on average, cross from Laos to China via rail between April and July each day, tourism businesses say the numbers of these overland visitors are relatively low.
The far-flung Chinese town of Mohan by the Laos border remains quiet, even as locals believe the significant investment in the railway is cause for optimism. Lao visitors have also ventured further inland to Xishuangbanna, home of the ethnic Dai minority and a popular tourist destination.
“During summer, we usually serve just 20 to 30 tables per night. But back in April, we had about 80 to 100 tables.”
At Xishuangbanna, hotpot stall owner Ye Shengduan, who serves Lao-style hotpot that grills and boils food in one pot, saw his sales triple in April when cross-border passenger services were launched.
“During summer, we usually serve just 20 to 30 tables per night. But back in April, we had about 80 to 100 tables,” he told ST.
Ms Chai Jianli, who sells religious amulets, prayer beads and other trinkets, also noticed more travellers from South-east Asia.
While she does not speak their language, doing business with visitors from Laos is not a problem, she said, adding that they communicate about prices by keying in numbers on a calculator.
“They do like to drive a good bargain – they will try haggling 50 yuan down to 20 yuan,” said Ms Chai.
This influx of Chinese visitors to Luang Prabang has been generally welcomed amid grim economic conditions in indebted Laos, where inflation hit about 40 per cent in the first quarter of this year.
At the 60-room Philaylack Guesthouse, it is common for only 10 rooms to be occupied during the rainy season. On the day the ST visited in August, however, it was more than 70 per cent full.
“We don’t advertise our hotel online. But since the train was launched, our business has been very good, and we have clients all year round.”
“We don’t advertise our hotel online. But since the train was launched, our business has been very good, and we have clients all year round,” its owner Kem Kham Philaylack told ST.
Yet she had mixed feelings about the Chinese influx in Luang Prabang.
“To be honest, we would prefer not to have Chinese travellers, because they can be quite loud and they dirty the rooms,” she said, referring to her experiences with them. For these same reasons, she had turned away Chinese investors who wanted to rent the buildings she owns to run hotels.
Other service providers, however, have gone the extra mile to welcome Chinese travellers.
Over at the upscale MyBanLao hotel, its management are offering thrice-weekly Chinese language classes to staff to prepare them for Chinese guests. Customers can also communicate with the hotel’s reception desk via WeChat.
Its assistant manager Thongvanh Pithavong said he was happy with the growing presence of independent travellers.
“Previously, when the Chinese tourists arrived in large groups, they tended to just visit Chinese-run restaurants,” he said.
“Now, they come in small groups, they visit the night markets, so Lao businesses benefit more.”