Laos is China’s first stop in their Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The plan being to connect various parts of the globe through railways to each other and China. The costly Lao-China Railway was complete by late 2021, and serves as a foundation to the trains planned to span across Southeast Asia. Although this achievement is monumental for China, the consequences for Laos are not as easily summarized.

This new public transportation has its benefits. Citizens of Laos are able to access parts of the country that were inaccessible to many. The country was mostly covered in underdeveloped dirt roads, and large distances could only be scaled with long rides through mountainous roads. However, the streamlined bullet train cuts distances short, opens work opportunities, and makes resources more accessible. Connecting families, networks, and Laos as a whole in ways that the country did not have the means to on its own.

The train serves as a link between China and Laos, not just physically, but culturally. It attracts foreign workers, tourists, and business people to stimulate the surrounding town of Boten, Laos, for example. A rising city, Chinese restaurants and shops can be seen morphing the area near one of the first stops in Laos. This can modernize the area for locals, as well as make the culture shift to cater to a Chinese population. The blending of the cultures is already reflected in the languages and shifting infrastructure, as signs in Mandarin and Lao are appearing side by side. The other side of this, as some citizens express, is that it reminds some of the economic gap between the two nations. China being more lucrative, while Laos feels like the more poor placeholder.

The most glaring issue is the mountain of debt that Laos is under. The country borrowed $1.54 billion from China, adding to their already billions of dollars in debt. Apparently, Laos only owns a minority stake of the railway, so it is not likely to generate much revenue or repay itself. Because of this debt, Laos’ economy is struggling. They are unable to support their citizens or development that is not supplied by China.

Overall, it is difficult to say whether the railway is solely beneficial or detrimental. In some lights, it provides unprecedented opportunities to Laos. In others, it seems to magnify the disparities between it and the country that promises to assist them. Ironically, the very act of China building the railway, providing complimentary development, and occupying more of the culture both develops and distances Laos from its origins. Will Laos see economic benefit from this agreement, or will it serve as a way to further cement it as an underdeveloped country in debt to those who build over it?