China Bank of Communications contributes to RMB 1 billion syndicated loan for 110 km Vientiane-Vang Vieng Section of China-Laos Expressway Project (Linked to Project ID#65216, #64727, #89430, #89429, and #98838)

In 2018, a syndicate of Chinese state-owned banks (consisting of China Development Bank, the Yunnan Branch of the Postal Savings Bank of China, and Bank of Communications) issued a syndicated loan worth RMB 1 billion and a syndicated loan worth $63 million USD to Laos-China Joint Expressway Development (老中联合高速公路开发有限公) — a special purpose vehicle and joint venture of China Yunnan Construction and Investment Holding Group (95% ownership stake) and the Ministry of Planning and Investment of the Government of Laos (5% ownership stake) — for the 110 km Vientiane-Vang Vieng Section of the China-Laos Expressway Project. The Yunnan Branch of the Export-Import Bank of China also issued an RMB 560 million loan to Laos-China Joint Expressway Development for the 110 km Vientiane-Vang Vieng Section of the China-Laos Expressway Project. The RMB 1 billion loan is captured by this project. The $63 million USD loan is captured by linked project ID#89430. The RMB 560 million loan is captured by linked project ID#89429. Chinese investment in the project is captured by linked project ID#65216. Laos-China Joint Expressway Development was created on December 8, 2017, and it signed a 50-year concession agreement with the Government of Laos for the China-Laos Expressway Project (also known as the Vientiane-Boten Expressway) on April 4, 2018. Under the terms of the concession agreement, Laos-China Joint Expressway Development assumed responsibility for implementing the RMB 8.92 billion ($1.2 billion USD) China-Laos Expressway in four phases and on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis. The 110 km Vientiane-Vang Vieng Section of the China-Laos Expressway was the first phase of the project. The 440 km China-Laos Expressway started in Vientiane and was to end at the Laos-China border town of Boten. Upon completion, it will include six bridges, 402 culverts, seven interchanges, 11 separated interchanges, one tunnel, eight toll gates, three service areas, and two parking areas. The 110 km Vientiane-Vang Vieng (Vientiane-Vangvieng) section of the China-Laos Expressway was designed as a two-way four-lane road with a design speed of 80 km to 100 km per hour. It passed through a 679-meter-long tunnel at Phoupha Mountain and linked Sikeuth village in Naxaithong district to a tourist hotspot in Vang Vieng district. Upon completion, it was expected to shorten the Vientiane-Vang Vieng travel time from 3.5 hours to one hour. Yunnan Construction and Investment Holding Group (YCIH) was the contractor responsible for implementation of the Vientiane-Vang Vieng section. Construction began on December 30, 2018. The Vientiane-Vang Vieng section of the China-Laos Expressway was opened to traffic on December 20, 2020, approximately 13 months ahead of schedule. It has reportedly created a significantly faster travel route than the alternative, 156 km route via Road No. 13 North.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the 113.5km Vientiane-Vang Vieng Motorway Project. The Chinese project title is 及老撾萬萬高速公路 or 老挝中老高速公路万象至万荣段 or 老挝万象至万荣高速 or 老挝万象至万荣高速公路项目. The Lao project title is ທາງດ່ວນວຽງຈັນວັງວຽງ. 2. More research needs to be undertaken to determine how the second, third, and fourth phases of the project are being financed. 3. Some sources refer to the length of the Vientiane-Vang Vieng Section of the China-Laos Expressway as 113.5 km rather than 110 km. 4. This loan is not included in the Overseas Development Finance Dataset that Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center published in December 2020. 5. The exact size of CDB, BoCom, and PSCB's respective financial contributions to the $1 billion syndicated loan are unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes that all three members of the lending syndicate contributed equal amounts (RMB $333,333,333.333)

Number of official sources

14

Number of total sources

23