The Impact of the China-Laos Railway on Economic Growth and Inclusive Growth in Laos: An Empirical Study

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-604-3_32How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Belt and Road Initiative; Inclusive Growth; Linear Regression Analysis

Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative emphasizes infrastructure connectivity. In this context, the China-Laos Railway is a landmark infrastructure achievement. It helps Laos transition from a landlocked to a land-linked country. However, so far, the role of the Initiative as a driver of inclusive growth in the participating countries is unexplored; specifically, specific information on the projects is missing. This article will analyze passenger and freight volume data of the China-Laos Railway through the lens of economic growth impact, contributing in a number of ways in an attempt to fill gaps in our existing research with data from 2022 to 2024 on passenger data and GDP, per capita GDP and Gini coefficient figures. Based on the China-Laos Railway freight volume and passenger traffic correlation, the GDP growth rate, per capita GDP growth rate and Gini coefficient in Laos, this study investigates the positive relationship. Analytical framework based on theory of spatiotemporal compression employing multiple linear regression with literature analysis results. The findings show that freight volume and passenger traffic on the China-Laos Railway have a positive and significant driving effect on Laos’ annual GDP growth rate, a positive pull effect on the growth rate per person and a negative moderation effect on the Gini coefficient. Through “enhancing trade and freight, generating employment through passenger services,” this railway achieves a natural integration of Laos’ economic growth in an inclusive manner. It also acts as a reference and a model for further Belt and Road projects, and for landlocked countries.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Mingjie Xiang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/26
TI  - The Impact of the China-Laos Railway on Economic Growth and Inclusive Growth in Laos: An Empirical Study
BT  - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Economic Development and Business Culture (ICEDBC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 295
EP  - 308
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-604-3_32
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-604-3_32
ID  - Xiang2026
ER  -