Opportunity, not debt trap

Both passenger and freight traffic on the China-Laos Railway has exceeded targets with a high growth rate, according to Liu Hong, general manager of the Laos-China Railway Company, in which the Lao side holds a 30 percent stake and the Chinese side a 70 percent stake — operating the Lao section of the railway.

In 2023, the Lao section of the railway carried up to 2.594 million passengers, a year-on-year increase of 85.8 percent. China-Laos cross-border trains carried 111,000 passengers during the same period and freight transport rose to 4.089 million metric tons, a year-on-year increase of 83.1 percent.

The link's annual volume of passenger and freight traffic is close to reaching the annual target set for its first decade, or a targeted 3.6 million passengers and over 5 million tons of freight, significantly earlier following its rollout.

With such strong figures, "we, as the company, are able to repay debts", said Anongdeth Phetkaysone, deputy managing director of the Lao Ministry of Public Works and Transport and deputy general manager of the Laos-China Railway Company, referring to the financing for the Lao section of the $5.9 billion project.

Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith told media in May 2023 in Tokyo that the railway has bolstered Laos' efforts to transform the country from landlocked to land-linked, sparking hope for driving socioeconomic development, and that it is definitely not a "debt trap".

"We have been hearing rumors about this 'debt trap' and I just want to clarify that this is not the reality that is facing our country," the Lao leader was quoted as saying, adding that Lao people are proud of the nation's first high-speed railway.

The railway "has contributed immensely to our economy and will certainly provide a very better future for us", he said.