On April 13, the international passenger trains of the China-Laos Railway was in operations between Kunming and Vientiane, allowing passengers to reach their destination on the same day. Sibounma Dalavanh, a postgraduate student enrolled at the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts in 2018, Chengdu University (CDU), was appointed the assistant driver of the locomotive crew of the first China-Laos international passenger train.

After graduating from the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts, Dalavanh applied for and received the offer to work on the China-Laos Railway. With professional training and study, he officially became an assistant driver of the locomotive crew on this railway. "I am very excited and honored to be able to work on this international train. It's such a pleasure and a source of pride for me. I owe this to my Chinese teachers' help," said Dalavanh, who added, "I am not only a crew member of the China-Laos Railway but also a beneficiary. During the two years of studying for a master's degree in China, I had to transfer many times every round trip between China and Laos. Now, the international passenger train from Vientiane, Laos to Kunming, China has been opened to traffic in both directions, which has greatly saved travel time and made it more convenient."

The China-Laos Railway is an important project for win-win cooperation between the two countries, and also a landmark project for high-quality, joint development of the Belt and Road Initiative. Upon the opening of the railway, Pu'er City and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan will finally be included in a railway route. It will also start the operation of high-speed trains in Laos, which previously only had a 3.5-kilometer stretch of track connected to the Thailand border. This project will facilitate the mobility of people and promote economic development along the line and foster tourism and cultural exchanges between the two countries.