Workers are seen at the construction site of the Ban Phoukeu Tunnel in Muang Nga of Oudomxay Province, Laos, Sept. 21, 2020. A Chinese railway engineering company on Sept. 22 drilled through the Ban Phoukeu Tunnel, the last major long tunnel of nearly 9,000 meters along the China-Laos Railway. It marked an important milestone in the construction of the cross-border railway, and laid a solid foundation for the timely completion of the mega project. The year 2020 has been a tough one for world economies amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Against this backdrop, China has seen resilient cooperation with the Belt and Road (B&R) countries. As the coronavirus pandemic severely hits international transport, the China-Europe freight trains play a pivotal role in land transport among countries, as shown by the rising number of trains, opening of new routes, and the volume of goods. Major B&R projects, including the China-Laos railway, China-Thailand railway, Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, and Hungary-Serbia railway are making positive headway. China's aid to Belt and Road partner countries and the experience it shared with them during the COVID-19 pandemic are valuable and render the Health Silk Road more concrete. (Photo by Pan Longzhu/Xinhua)
