VIENTIANE - The China-Laos railway station in the Lao capital Vientiane made its debut on Wednesday.

The Vientiane Station, the largest and most important station of the China-Laos railway, is built by China Railway Construction Group Co., Ltd.. The station will consist of three platforms with five track lines and two additional platforms with two lines reserved.

With a construction area of 14,543 square meters, the station can accommodate a maximum 2,500 passengers, according to the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd., a Vientiane-based joint venture in charge of the railway's construction and operation.

The Vientiane Station, reflecting the design concept of "the city of sandalwood (Vientiane), the friendship between China and Laos," has deeply integrated the cultural traditions of the two countries.

The station's main building takes the Chinese traditional ancient architecture stretch ratio as the benchmark, and combines the environmental characteristics of Vientiane with the Chinese classic architecture's door style.

The facade extracts the image elements of tropical rainforest trees, and installs eight branches shaped eaves and columns with undecorated steel structure to support the station hall roof. When the sun shines on the station, it looks like many trees casting shadows on the facade, which fully highlights the elegance of "the city of sandalwood".

The station hall is largely painted with the colors of Dok Champa, the national flower of Laos.

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

The electrified passenger and cargo railway is built with the full application of Chinese management and technical standards. The construction of the project started in December 2016 and is scheduled to be put into operation in December 2021.