China News Service Kunming, February 12th Title: China continues to optimize its entry policy to stimulate the cross-border "tourism fever" of China-Laos Railway

Author Yang Yongquan Na Jianbo

"After implementing the ASEAN tourist group's visa-free entry policy, many tour groups from Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam came on the China-Laos Railway train entering China." Recently, Han Jialing, the Chinese conductor of the D87th China-Laos Railway, said.

The China National Immigration Administration issued an announcement on the 10th, and from now on, the visa-free policy for ASEAN countries to enter Xishuangbanna, Yunnan will be implemented.

"The China-Laos Railway is so fast and so convenient." On the 11th, on the D87 train from Kunming to Vientiane, a Malaysian Chinese traveler named Tang Xueshuang, who is from Fujian, sincerely exclaimed, "This is my second trip to China. Compared to the first time I took a plane, I can enjoy the scenery along the route and have a better experience."

Tour guide Yu Yue introduced that they came to Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. There were a total of 43 people in this tour group, from Laos, Thailand and Malaysia, with an average age of nearly 60 years old. Among them, Malaysian passengers took a cruise ship to Thailand, then transferred to Luang Prabang, Laos, and took the China-Laos railway EMU to China.

Yuyue is a tour guide of the Xishuangbanna Branch of Yunnan International Travel Agency. She lives in Xishuangbanna. Because she is proficient in Laos, Thais and Malaysians, she has become a "hot commodity" for travel groups. "The China-Laos Railway has brought new opportunities to our tourism industry. We have not had much rest in the past three months. We have arranged five cross-border tourism groups this month alone," said Yu Yue.

With the convenient accessibility of the China-Laos Railway, since the beginning of winter last year, in addition to the elderly from cold areas of China, who have traveled to Xishuangbanna for health care, Yunnan has also been favored by tourists from ASEAN countries, especially the elderly are the most concentrated. The China-Laos Railway has also ushered in a wave of cross-border tourism booms in winter by "silver-haired people".

Xishuangbanna is one of the Chinese tourist destinations that tourists from ASEAN countries are passionate about. Because of its pleasant winter climate, convenient round trip, rich tourism resources and low cost, it has always been a popular choice for outbound tourism.

It is reported that since the beginning of this year, the number of tourists from ASEAN countries has increased by more than 2.5 times year-on-year. Among ASEAN countries, Thailand and Malaysia rank among the top ten source countries to enter Xishuangbanna this year.

In order to better serve the hot "cross-border travel", since this year, the China-Laos Railway Vientiane Operation Management Center has added multi-language services on site to enhance the experience of international tourists in response to the fact that some passengers do not understand Chinese, old and English.

At the same time, as the first international health port, the Mohan Railway Port has set up medical first aid points in the station, equipped with AED, electrocardiogram monitoring, first aid kit and other facilities and equipment, providing priority, "one-to-one" inspection and release and other convenient customs clearance services for overseas personnel who need emergency incoming abroad. The station also added an ATM cash machine in the entry joint inspection hall to support foreign passengers to withdraw RMB cash using overseas bank cards to solve the actual needs of passengers.

Relying on the convenience of the China-Laos Railway and China's visa-free policy, the role of the China-Laos Railway will be more prominent. In January this year alone, there were 29,964 people entering and leaving the country, an increase of 63% year-on-year. At the same time, the import and export goods transported through the China-Laos Railway reached 478,000 tons, with a cargo value of 1.33 billion yuan, an increase of 7% and 2% year-on-year respectively. (End)