Shanhailian Silk Road brings new vitality to China Laos economic and trade cooperation (pictured)

The picture shows customs officers inspecting imported fresh durians at the Mohan Railway Port, photographed by Zhou Wei

This year is the "good year of China Laos friendship" and the fifth year of the opening of China Laos railway. With the continuous deepening of customs clearance facilitation reform and the upgrading of cross-border logistics construction, the "Golden Silk Road" effect across mountains and rivers continues to emerge. The once border town of Mohan has risen to an international hub, becoming a vivid epitome of the deep integration and vigorous development of China Laos economic and trade.

In response to the characteristics of a wide variety of cross-border freight categories and high requirements for the timeliness of fresh products, we have implemented 16 specific measures to promote cross-border trade facilitation. We have used methods such as customs enterprise dialogue and door-to-door delivery policies to promote the use of facilitation measures such as early declaration, two-step declaration, and railway express, achieving immediate inspection and release upon arrival, and significantly improving customs clearance efficiency. "Zhou Baohua, Deputy Director of Mengla Customs, introduced. In the first five months of this year, Mengla Customs supervised that the import of durian at Mohan Port was 7.94 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.2%, of which 3.22 billion yuan was imported through the China Laos Railway, a year-on-year increase of 36%, which is inseparable from the customs clearance guarantee of "fresh" throughout the year.

The deep integration of smart customs construction and smart port construction injects strong impetus into efficient customs clearance at ports. Mengla Customs has deployed intelligent facilities such as H986 non-invasive inspection equipment, 5G intelligent individual soldiers, and visual monitoring platforms at the Mohan Railway Port, achieving one-stop completion of vehicle clearance processes and improving port logistics efficiency by over 40%. Relying on innovative applications such as AGV unmanned driving and intelligent scheduling, Mohan Railway Port has been successfully selected as one of the first typical cases of smart port construction in China, and has become the largest railway open gateway for China to ASEAN.

Things flow smoothly, people enjoy their actions. The interconnectivity of the "Golden Silk Road" not only activates goods trade, but also gives birth to new forms of cross-border cultural tourism, promoting the integration of China Laos cooperation into diversity. The international tourism special trains of the China Laos Railway, such as the "Star Lancang Mekong" and "Kunming", have been operated regularly, serving 3459 cross-border passenger trains and 836000 entry-exit passengers. "Traveling in the Lancang Mekong by motor train" has become a new trend of culture and tourism, helping China to have friendly exchanges with Laos and Southeast Asian countries, and people to people exchanges.

Mountains and seas are connected for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. As the level of port intelligence and customs clearance facilitation continues to improve, China Laos bilateral economic and trade and people to people and cultural cooperation continue to advance in depth, injecting lasting impetus into the high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road". (Zhou Wei, Wang Hao/text)