The China-Laos Railway, a landmark project connecting Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan province with the Laotian capital, Vientiane, begins operations on Dec 3. The 1,035-kilometer-long railway is a docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub.

The two sides should deepen the alignment of their development strategies and take China's construction of a new development pattern and the formal signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as an opportunity to steadily propel the construction of the China-Laos Economic Corridor and China-Laos Railway, expand cooperation in various fields such as culture and education, youth and tourism, and strengthen coordination in international and regional affairs. In doing so, the two countries can deliver more solid outcomes in the building of the China-Laos community with a shared future and create greater benefits for the people of both countries.