Workers continue the construction of the Yuxi-Mohan section of the China-Laos railway, which is within Chinese territory, on Sunday. After construction of the China-Laos railway is completed at the end of 2021, visitors will be able to take an overnight train to Vientiane, Laos from Kunming, China. (Photo: cnsphoto)

All 75 tunnels in Laos of the China-Laos Railway were completed as of Tuesday, and construction will move to the next stage, the company carrying out the project said.

The last tunnel along the China-Laos Railway, the Xiang Ngeun No.3 Tunnel, some 210 km north of Lao's capital Vientiane, was drilled through on Tuesday, the construction and operating company Laos-China Railway Co said on Tuesday.

The railway will link Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, to Vientiane, with speed of 160 kilometers per hour, according to reports. It is an electrified railway that will carry passengers and cargo. There are 198 km of tunnels and 62 km of bridges along the line.

Work will now shift from the stage of civil engineering to station con-struction and installation, and then to operation and management, said China Railway, the parent of shareholder company of Laos-China Railway.

The China-Laos Railway is a strategic docking project between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy of transforming itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub, according to China Railway.

"The railway will serve as a link between Laos and neighboring countries and the international railway network. The Vientiane station is the largest passenger station of the Laos-China Railway, and it is expected to connect with follow-up railways planned by the Lao side," the Xinhua News Agency reported, citing Chantula Phanalasy, head of the Laos-China Railway Project Management Committee under the Lao Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

Since the construction of the Laos section of the railway began, problems such as karst, faults and high ground temperature have been overcome. The Laos section starts from the Boten border gate in northern Laos, bordering China.

So far, 148 km of tracks have been laid, or nearly one-third of the total length of the railway. Work began in December 2016 and the railway is scheduled to be completed and operational by the end of 2021.