Photo taken on May 31, 2020 shows the construction site of the China-Laos Railway in northern Laos. (Photo by Pan Longzhu/Xinhua)

 The first signal controller of the China-Laos Railway was successfully set up in the northern suburbs of Lao capital Vientiane on Wednesday, which marked a key step in the signal system construction and installation along the China-Laos railway.

The China-Laos railway's signal engineering includes the laying of 562-km signal, installation and commissioning of 171 sets of rerouting machines, 345 sets of signal controllers and 425 sections of track circuit equipment.

By May 2021, the whole railway will enter the equipment commissioning stage.

The signal controller is called "the eyes of the railway trains." In order to ensure the high standard and high quality assembly and installation of the first signal controller, China Railway Construction Electrification Bureau Group (CRCEBG), the Chinese engineering company undertaking the work, made full preparations before construction as well as optimized the construction plan.

According to the CRCEBG, the Chinese engineer team has been strictly implementing the technical specifications and requirements during the construction process, strengthening the construction process standard control, and steadily advancing the project with ensured safety and quality standard.

The China-Laos Railway is a strategic docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub.

The 422-km railway, with 198-km-long 75 tunnels and 62-km bridges, will run from Boten border gate in northern Laos, bordering China, to Vientiane with an operating speed of 160 km per hour.

The electrified passenger and cargo railway is built with the full application of Chinese management and technical standards.

The project started in December 2016 and is scheduled to be completed and open to traffic in December 2021.