Workers prepare to plant the first engineering pole at the construction site of the China-Laos railway project in Vientiane, Laos, March 15, 2020. With the first engineering pole for overhead contact system being successfully established by China Railway Wuhan Electrification Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (WEEG), the M&E (mechanical and electrical) engineering of China-Laos railway has officially entered the construction phase on Sunday. The China-Laos Railway is a strategic docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. The 414.332-km railway, with 198-km tunnels and 62-km bridges, will run from Boten border gate in northern Laos, bordering China, to Vientiane with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)
