At the Mohan Railway Port, travelers moving between China and Laos were clearing customs in an orderly manner, with platforms and waiting areas bustling with people. According to a notice issued by the Mohan Entry-Exit Border Inspection Station on October 15, the China-Laos Railway international passenger trains had transported over 1 million inbound and outbound passengers as of that day. Mengla County is home to several national first-class ports, including Mohan Railway Port, Mohan Highway Port, Guanlei Port, and Mengman Port, and a multimodal transport system integrating water, road, and rail is taking shape rapidly. From January to August 2026, the import and export trade volume at Mengla County's ports (including Mohan) reached 56.631 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.83%. Leveraging platforms such as the Mengla Railway Station International Logistics Park, Guanlei International Water Port Industrial Park, and Mengman International Rubber Industrial Park, Mengla County is focusing on the China-Laos Railway golden corridor, adhering to integrated planning of ports, parks, industries, and livelihoods, and promoting the conversion of corridor traffic into county-level industrial development, translating into tangible momentum for border residents' income growth and industrial upgrading.
Party Building Leads Border Residents, Mutual Trade Fairs Boost Income
Mengla County is leveraging the connective role of grassroots Party organizations to guide border residents in participating in mutual trade through cooperatives. In Manlie Village, Mengman Town, the China-Laos border residents' "International Laogeng Grand Fair" is held once a month. Border residents from surrounding villages and Lao merchants bring agricultural specialties and handicrafts to the trading market, setting up stalls and engaging in exchanges. "Next time at the fair, bring your family along for the fun," a village cadre from Manlie Village casually said to a Lao merchant. The way border residents participate in cross-border trade is changing. Relying on 17 Party-building-led border residents' mutual trade cooperatives, more than 3,000 border residents have joined cooperatives to operate collectively, moving away from the previous scattered "basket peddling." From January to August, border residents participated in mutual trade 25,300 person-times, a year-on-year increase of 22.67%; trade volume reached 59,500 tons, up 25.44% year-on-year. During the same period, the border residents' mutual trade sector cumulatively drove border residents' income growth of 904,600 yuan and village collective economic income growth of 253,300 yuan. Under the "Worry-Free Mengla" brand, the fair consumption format is expanding simultaneously. From January to September, the county held a total of 244 "Worry-Free Mengla" grand fairs, set up over 11,000 stalls, received 2.1835 million tourists, directly driving consumption of 16.0686 million yuan, driving collective economic income growth of 2.5828 million yuan and surrounding catering and accommodation income growth of 4.4403 million yuan. Mengla County invested 1 million yuan to renovate the Mofen Xiaoyuan fairground, introducing Lao specialty formats and promoting the integration of fairs with cultural tourism. The local area is also deeply exploring the ethnic folk cultures of the Dai, Hani, Yao, and other ethnic groups, blending exotic flavors, and incorporating ethnic cuisine and intangible cultural heritage creative products into market scenes.
Water and Land Corridors Work Together, Multimodal Transport Expands Space
Beyond the railway, Mengla County has multiple supports for its opening-up. Guanlei Port is the first port on the Lancang-Mekong waterway entering China, linking with the Kunming-Bangkok Highway and the China-Laos Railway to build a water-land transport corridor. According to statistics from Xishuangbanna Customs, in the first nine months of 2026, Guanlei Port completed a cumulative import and export cargo volume of 291,500 tons, achieving a trade volume of 5.195 billion yuan, up 60.9% and 150% year-on-year respectively. Among these, imported fruits surged to become the port's largest import category, with cumulative imports of durian, mangosteen, longan, and other Southeast Asian fresh fruits reaching 63,900 tons, valued at 953 million yuan. Tropical fruits and other fresh goods are continuously arriving at Guanlei Port via the Lancang-Mekong International Waterway, where Thai durians, Lao watermelons, and others wait for inspection and clearance in refrigerated containers. A person in charge of a cross-border freight enterprise at Guanlei Port introduced that fruit shipped from Chiang Saen Port in Thailand to Guanlei Port takes only about 26 hours, going directly by water without transshipment, shortening the journey by 3 days compared to land transport and reducing logistics costs by about 20%. On May 24, 2026, the "Lancang-Mekong Express" refrigerated scheduled vessel made its maiden voyage from Guanlei Port to Chiang Saen Port in Thailand, enabling normalized and scheduled cold-chain transport of cross-border fresh products such as fruits and vegetables and flowers. The local area is simultaneously implementing a single-bill multimodal transport model for water, road, and rail from Guanlei Port to Chiang Saen Port in Thailand, clearing bottlenecks in the connections between water, road, and rail. A number of fruit landing and processing enterprises have commenced production at Guanlei Port, and Mengla County is also advancing preliminary work for a pilot program on beef cattle imports from Laos, promoting the transformation of border trade from simple circulation to deep processing and value-added production. Corridor transport capacity is rising simultaneously. Since the China-Laos Railway opened to September 2026, Mengla County has cumulatively dispatched 16.7107 million tons of goods, with 3.4347 million tons dispatched within the year, a year-on-year increase of 13.47%; from January to September, the county's total express delivery in and out of ports reached 23.3706 million pieces, with people flow, cargo flow, and express flow all rising together, and corridor transport capacity continuing to climb.
Employment Services Reach the Frontline, Local Work Stabilizes Livelihoods
Logistics convenience has brought cold-chain industry clustering and also opened up local employment opportunities for local residents. Mengpeng Town, relying on its cold-chain logistics center, has built a "Worry-Free" gig market and a service station for foreign workers, joining forces with enterprises and agricultural bases to establish a labor cooperation alliance, precisely matching labor demand, releasing over 780 flexible employment positions, with about 300 people working daily; it radiates and drives over 55,000 people to work nearby, of whom more than 20% come from border villages. Around park positions, the local area provides skills training in fruit and vegetable sorting, cold-chain management, and equipment operation as needed. Many workers' monthly salaries have increased from 2,500 yuan to over 4,000 yuan, with more than 170 of them achieving long-term stable employment. The market is equipped with a "Worry-Free Living Area," featuring 30 free dormitories with 200 beds, complete canteen and kitchen facilities, personal accident insurance for workers, and wages calculated by day or by piece and paid promptly. Since the gig market began operating, it has driven workers' income growth of over 25 million yuan. The cold-chain logistics center has an annual operating revenue of nearly 200 million yuan, driving income growth in Mengha Village, Jingkan Village, and Manguang Villager Group, with cumulative village collective operating income increasing by 2.645 million yuan. The people flow gathering along the corridor is also spawning border-characteristic consumption. In the evening, the Lao hot pot street on Mantala Road in Mengla Town lights up. "I'm from Mengla. I used to work elsewhere, couldn't take care of my family, and my income was unstable. After the China-Laos Railway opened, more and more tourists came, and local Lao hot pot gradually gained fame, so I returned home to open a small shop," said a hot pot operator. The shop employs several Lao workers, and in their spare time they livestream together to promote border specialty dishes. A worker from Luang Namtha Province in Laos said: "Many spices and ingredients in the shop are purchased from Laos. Thanks to the China-Laos Railway, cross-border supply is smoother, and the shop's operation is more stable." Relying on the Yunnan Mengla Provincial Industrial Park, Mengla County has formed a linked layout of five areas: the county seat, Mengman, Guanlei, Mengpeng, and Yiwu. Among them, the county seat area is adjacent to Mengla Railway Station, with warehousing, landing processing, and commercial services gradually clustering; the Mengman area undertakes deep processing of natural rubber; the Guanlei area connects to Lancang-Mekong water transport cold-chain logistics; and rubber, tropical fruits and vegetables, and under-forest agricultural products are transported outward along the corridor. New formats such as cross-border e-commerce and homestays are also appearing along the port areas. The lights on the Lao hot pot street on Mantala Road are still on, the employment board at the Mengpeng Town gig market has added new positions, and cargo ships at Guanlei Port are loading and unloading through the night. People and goods flow in and out of Mengla along railways, highways, and waterways, and corridor traffic is turning into tangible results for border residents' income growth and industrial landing.
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