Do you have resources that could help expand the Open Development Mekong website? LAOS: Long-awaited China Railway Opens for Trade No hawkers, money changers or motor taxis, just a long, dark dirt road leading to the Laos border town of Boten. Boten Border Crossing Reopens For 3-Day Test Run Price fluctuations in goods in Mekong Delta, Vietnam digital economy growth expected to be highest in Southeast Asia. As a Chinese woman was about to cut the queue in from of me, he quickly shut her down and let me pass through. Laos may lose millions of dollars from lost exports to China now that Chinese authorities have closed the Boten International Checkpoint, a major travel and trade route between the two countries. The moment we approached the border proper (marked by a large stone) we seemingly crossed between two completely different worlds. Note: Some of international checkpoint unavailable to get visa on arrival, for more detail please find list as below. They will not be open to human traffic, an official in Vientiane province told RFA. The first meeting of the Trade and Logistics Advocacy Working Group will be held on 7 June 2023. 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We made a short stop for lunch in one of those towns, but I couldnt find any ATM or money exchange close by the bus station, giving me no choice but to skip food and drinks until we arrived in Jinhong. [3] From the 1860s France began establishing a presence in the region, initially in modern Cambodia and Vietnam, and the colony of French Indochina was created in 1887. We were recovering from a long bus journey and it was the first day back on the bicycles since my rim was replaced. Boten border crossing | Open Development Mekong Old Sound, new ground: An inter-nation collaboration hitting highly cultural and entertaining notes. There are direct cross-border services from Mengla in China via Mohan/Boten to Luang Namtha, the nearest major Lao town. The golden, stupa-shaped customs hall at Boten, Laos. A new railway connecting Vientiane, Laos's capital, to the Chinese border crossing at Boten was officially opened on 3 December 2021 and follows an agreement providing a legal framework for the crossborder movement of people and goods. It was only when we left the border town where I could see behind this charade and spotted some old buildings being torn down to make way for more presentable ones. The border then turns sharply eastward and continues overland, before turning sharply northward, continuing in that direction for some distance, before again turning eastward and terminating at the Vietnamese tripoint at the Shiceng Dashan peak.[2]. Southeast Asia. Celebrate with Sunway Pyramid with a Party At The Pyramid! Credit: Flickr/ilmari hyvnen Advertisement Big things are happening in Boten, and it may very soon be difficult to refer to the settlement as a 'town.' J&C Group is active in Insurance, Marketing, Investment, Real Estate and Joint-Ventures, offering employment to over 100 local & international staff members. (KPL) A group tour organized early this month under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation framework has brought our media practitioners from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and China to major development projects in Guangdong, China. To learn more about the system architecture, read our documentation. Do you have a new idea that could help transform the Open Development Mekong website? LAOS RAILWAY MAP Schedule + Train Tickets | 2023 I had just left Luang Namtha three hours earlier and border the only bus heading to Jinhong in China. On the 200- to 300-meter walk to the next checkpoint, it becomes abundantly clear that were on the frontier. (Yunnan) and Boten (Laos) is open to foreigners and visa on arrival is possible (USD37 for UK citizens) or you can get in advance at the . The main one is located at Mohan - Boten. Boten Border Crossing Archives - J&C Group - Your Trusted Partners In Laos Until 2011, Boten was a certifiable casino boomtown, with gambling halls, brothels, KTVs and nightclubs all the trappings of a weekend getaway for cashed-up Yunnan residents looking for a walk on the wild side. Lao PDR Whereas chaos, dirt and poverty set the tone on the Laos side, the Chinese have turned their patch of the border into a tranquil tropical oasis dotted with beautiful gardens, modern buildings and an atmosphere of calm I have never expected at all. J&C Group is active in Insurance, Marketing, Investment, Real Estate and Joint-Ventures, offering employment to over 100 local & international staff members. Driving In Laos: What License Do I Need ? We board a south-bound bus near the LPDR customs house, and as we cruise through town one last time, we cant help but think that if we ever do return to this far-flung frontier town, it will likely be a very different place. Head of the Boten International Customs Checkpoint, Mr Vilakone Kettavong, recently attributed the increase in revenue to the growing volume of imported [] Like many before us whove traveled to Boten, our time eventually comes to leave to the temples, night markets and waterfalls of Luang Prabang. The most popular overland routes to and from the province start and end at Bokeo Province's Ban Houey Xay and Luang Prabang. Work for Us | Laos, China officially to reopen Boten- Bohan international border crossing This is especially important because most other border crossings around the country have been closed for many months, Mr Thongsy added. Such documents are typically customs declarations, applications for import/export permits, and other supporting documents such as certificates of origin and trading invoices. It was another brutal hot and humid day in Laos. We thank you for your support. Wednesday, 31 Aug 2022. One businessman said that the bottleneck period coincided with the peak export of agricultural produce to China, when his company sends produce to China under the opium substitute crop programme. Surrounding Boten, a massive swath of clear-cut red earth is traversed by excavators, tractors and trucks presumably preparing the next stage of the settlements building boom. The tropical paradise theme park continued well beyond the border where countless shops line the perfectly laid out streets. It does involve filling out forms and waiting in lines, and keep in mind that this area is hot most of the year, so dress lightly. Boten Border Crossing Business China Finance - Banking - Money Government Investments Lao Economy Latest News . Haulage trucks wait in line at the Boten border crossing in Luang Namtha . A very long bus ride from Jinhong (Xishaungbanna) to Dali. You, passport I heard someone saying and turned around to face a guard who was looking at me. Driving In Laos: What License Do I Need ? [3] Topographically it is mountainous and forested, with some limited agriculture. , However nothing prepared me for Boten the border crossing between Laos and China. The total value of trade (imports and exports) in the first four months of this year climbed to US$4 . Boten Border Crossing Reopens For 3-Day Test Run - LaptrinhX One of the reasons I prefer to travel overland is that you slowly move between the different places, giving you enough time to gradually ease into a new culture, landscape or climate. The morning after our arrival, we set out to explore the SEZ in the light of day. Its so clean and orderly I thought to myself as I walked along one of the many Boulevards and turned into an alley where the hostel was located. Copyright 2023 Stephan Aeschbach - J&C Group. We were riding from Luang Namtha to Boten which is the last 'town' before you cross into China from Laos. At the same time, foreigners cant come in now either, one resident of Khammouane province said.I cant reopen my restaurant now, because there are now tourists, a restaurant owner in Borikhamxay province said, adding, The prime ministers order allows only for the import and export of goods.In January, Lao state media quoted the countrys Tourism Marketing Department as saying 1.02 million Chinese tourists visited Laos in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 27 percent.Reported by RFAs Lao Service. The Boten border crossing is a major travel and trade route between Laos and China, so it is essential that it is reopened as quickly as possible so that earnings from exports are not lost. At first it was the occasional truck, then an excavator, and out of nowhere a massive construction site surrounded by hundreds of vehicles parked around huge buildings most of them still unfinished. 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(3) The Luang Namtha Provincial Administrative Office to hold talks with LS Company, LICD Company and Hua Phan He Hao Company regarding allocation of land owned by them which has not been used as a car park and jointly create regulations for the management of a temporary car park. China-Laos border - Wikipedia Meanwhile, Luang Namtha authorities have banned the entry of haulage trucks travelling to China from other provinces.This means the trucks cannot wait in Luang Namtha while they undergo the necessary export procedures and cannot spend time in the province while waiting for the border to reopen. Something's gone wrong, Please Resubmit the form! (KPL/VNA) Laos expects to earn more than 2 billion USD fromagricultural exportsthis year, up from 1.73 billion USD in 2022, local media reported. Considered a piece of President Xis flagship infrastructure project, Boten will become the first stop inside Laos along the Laos-China railway network, which will connect Kunming to the Laotian capital of Vientiane. I should have bought the ticket at the station as the hotel marked up 30.000 kip on top of the regular 90.000 kip ticket price. But overall, there is still a slightly sleepy feel to Boten. Laos to Open its Border with China This Week - Laotian Times The border area was historically remote from the centres of both Chinese and Lao power. Laos is set to fast-track entry for travelers from China beginning Sunday, relaxing controls on a northern border crossing previously tightly shut to prevent the spread of COVID-19, under relaxed quarantine policies that worry some ordinary Laos, sources in the country told RFA.Under a recent agreement between the two countries, Chinese nationals from COVID-free provinces will now be permitted to enter Laos by the Boten border gate if they have tested negative for COVID-19 and been quarantined for 14 days in China, an official of the Department of Civil Aviation in Laos told RFA this week.They will also have to be quarantined for 48 hours in Laos after crossing the border, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to talk to media.Laos, with ambitions to become the Battery of Southeast Asia, has drawn billions of dollars in Chinese investment in hydropower dams and other big-ticket projects under Beijings $1.3 trillion Belt and Road Initiative to build infrastructure and support trade.China is Laos largest foreign investor and aid provider, and its second-largest trade partner after Thailand.The border opening is only for Chinese traveling to Laos, however.At present, Lao nationals are not allowed to leave the country, except for workers, students, and Lao residents with family members living in other countries, an immigration officer from the Ministry of Public Security said.And even these will have to submit an application with the embassy of the country to which they wish to travel, with the application approved by Lao authorities as well, the officer said.An official from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport meanwhile added that Chinese travelers to Laos had actually been allowed entry into Laos for some time already.Officially, the border will open on Nov. 1, however, the official said.This fast track or Green Lane will then open a week later for Vietnamese travelers, with other foreign nationals allowed entry on a week-to-week basis after that, he said.Monitoring period 'risky, too short'Many in Laos voiced concern over what they called the short period of quarantine required of Chinese entering the country, with one resident in the capital Vientiane calling the two-day period of observation in Laos risky, and too short.The newcomers should be monitored for a longer period of time, he said.COVID-19 is very dangerous, and it spreads quickly, another Vientiane resident said, adding, I dont agree with the 48-hour quarantine. Written in English by Richard Finney. The ChinaLaos border is the international boundary between China and Laos, which runs for 505km from the tripoint with Myanmar in the west to the tripoint with Vietnam in the east. Consequently, China's adaptation of Stalinist principles in the form of Maoism influenced Laotian politics, fuelling demands for total independence from France, which was granted in 1953. The Chinese taskforce has asked all truck drivers in Laos to quarantine for 21 days, wear personal protective clothing, and clean and disinfect their trucks before handing them over to Chinese drivers on the Chinese side of the border, he said.Some Chinese truck drivers had tested positive for Covid-19 because truck drivers in Laos were not fully complying with the virus control measures laid down by the Chinese taskforce, Mr Thongsy said. In recent days, cases have been reported in Shanghai, Tianjin, Anhui and Yunnan. Allowing them to come in too easily is only going to make us worried, a third resident in the capital said.Four smaller Lao border crossings, including one on the border with China and three on the border with Thailand, will also open on Nov. 1, but will be used only for the cross-border transport of goods, with people forbidden to cross, Lao officials said.These four local and customary border gates will only facilitate the export and import of goods. And while the buzz of cross-border commerce and trade seems to have slowed by 8.30pm, a duty-free shop remains open, as does a large building packed with vendors selling jade jewelry and hand-carved wooden furniture. As a result of the ongoing construction work, 80% of Botens current population is Chinese, estimates a local bar owner we speak with, who originally hails from Xian. How to Travel Overland from China to Laos - Culture Trip App, 2023 JY International Cultural Communications Co., Ltd.ICP20064570, The Communist Divide: Cruising the China-North Korea Border, Shaxi Old Town: One of Yunnans Best Kept Secrets, Centuries Old Yunnan Orchestra Find New Sounds with a Frenchman. Big things are happening in Boten, and it may very soon be difficult to refer to the settlement as a town. Declared a Specific Economic Zone (SEZ) in 2003, Chinese businesses have moved in to help develop the area as part of Chinese President Xi Jinpings Belt and Road Initiative. Haulage trucks wait in line at the Boten border crossing in Luang Namtha province. Image by Matthew Bossons/Thats, Hotel staff enjoying a morning dance. Boten border crossing / Bounchanh Sinthavong / Chanthachone Keolakhone / Laos / Luang Namtha Hundreds of trucks carrying machinery and equipment for construction of the Laos-China railway have entered Laos after being delayed at the border, a senior government official has said. Importers and exporters must pay tariffs, taxes, fees and service charges electronically at service units of the Banque pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public (BCEL) and the Lao Development Bank (LDB), using Smart tax, i-Banking, BCEL One Corporate Banking, money transfer, or cheque. Ministry proposes measures to ease bottlenecks at Boten border crossing The government will take action to tackle the problem of congestion at the Boten International Checkpoint, through which haulage trucks from Laos must pass to enter China. Hundreds of trucks loaded with goods are stranded at the Boten-Mohan crossing on the Laos-China border, with strict Covid screening procedures causing long delays. [3] Laos was then added to the colony in 1893 following the Franco-Siamese War, and a border agreement delimiting the China-Laos boundary at its current position was signed on 20 June 1895. Laos launches single window customs system at second border crossing, Cryptocurrency Trade Adds Millions of Dollars to State Budget, Call For Proposals to Update ECCIL Website. This is especially important because most other border crossings around the country have been closed for many months, Mr Thongsy added. Migrant workers from China in Boten. , Imports and exports at other international borders are still processed manually. I slept throug the majority of the ride towards the border but occasionally glanced out of the window and see the tropical mountain landscape pass by. Lao authorities will ask their . Luang Namtha - Travel guide at Wikivoyage China Announces Closure of Borders with Luang Namtha [8] A second crossing is at Lantouy further northeast (only for Chinese and Laotian citizens). Another official in Luang Prabang province also said that Lao trucks could not cross into China via the Boten border, while Chinese trucks can deliver goods to many places in Laos. Image by Matthew Bossons/Thats. There are two trains, both leaving in the morning, traveling to the length of the line from Vientiane, taking about 3.5 hours. The Boten International Checkpoint is the second-largest import and export border in Laos.