Laos China

The inauguration of the long-promised rail line offers Beijing a chance to burnish its image in mainland Southeast Asia.

A trip on the maiden journey of the $5.9 billion Laos-China Railway.

The $5.9 billion railway, an impressive feat of Chinese engineering, is set to tie Laos ever closer to its northern neighbor.

A Chinese firm's plans to build a 100-meter-high Buddha statue in low-lying Vientiane encapsulate China's outsized economic presence in Laos.

China's influence is growing in Laos, but the country's foreign relations present a more complex picture.

The one-time casino boom town on the Laos-China border is on the rise again, powered by billions in Chinese investment.

Ballooning external debt and growing fiscal deficits augur political storm clouds for the ruling LPRP.

The building highlights Vietnam's desire to prevent Laos from spiraling off into China's orbit.

The deal will deepen China's involvement in the Lao government's goal of transforming itself into the "battery of Southeast Asia."

Laos has several options for dealing with its debt crisis, and none of them are palatable.

Over the past few years, China's economic gravity has begun to pull Cambodia and Laos out of Vietnam's orbit.

The announcement is a sign that China will play a central role in Southeast Asia's recovery from the economic downturn of COVID-19.