The Laos-China railway project is set to be officially launched in February 2017, with completion scheduled for 2021. The first phase of the project involves laying 52 km of rail from the Lao-China border to Namor district in Oudomxay Province. The first phase will be built by China’s Railway Engineering Group No 5, with two stations to be built in Luang Namtha Province. The railway project, 70% owned by China and 30% by Laos, is expected to help Laos achieve its external co-operation and connectivity strategies with other ASEAN member countries and China.