The opening of the China-Laos Railway on Dec 3 marked the start of a new phase in Laos' strategy to transform itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. 

The 1,035-kilometer electrified cargo and passenger railway, which connects Kunming of Southwest China's Yunnan province with the Laotian capital of Vientiane, has adopted Chinese technical standards and equipment.

As a landmark project signifying friendship between the two countries, the railway will accelerate the building of the China-Laos Economic Corridor and a community with a shared future for the two peoples.

Yibin Vocational & Technical College (YVTC) in Southwest China's Sichuan province kicked off an educational program in 2019 to provide Laotian students with academic courses on electromechanical integration, autonomic control of railway signals, and logistics management, laying a foundation for the railway. So far, the program has 146 Laotian students. 

The training base for autonomic control of railway signals at the Laos Luban Workshop [edu.newssc.org/]

A Luban Workshop was established by the YVTC and Pakpasak Technical College in Laos last year in a drive to serve domestic enterprises in their overseas expansion, export Chinese technologies and foster Laotian professionals.

Training facilities for autonomic control of railway signals at the Laos Luban Workshop [edu.newssc.org/]

The workshop will serve as a center of excellence for railway signaling. By combining modern computer technology with actual training environments, it aspires to enhance students' technical competence, shorten the time for them to adapt to their future workplace, and build up momentum for the future growth of the China-Laos railway industry.

The YVTC sent a set of training equipment valued at 1.2 million yuan ($189,120) to the railway signal operators as a gift to celebrate the railway's opening.