Laos has been greatly transformed by projects funded by Chinese lending under President Xi Jinping’s 10-year-old Belt and Road Initiative, with the centerpiece US$5.9 billion China-Laos railway linking the land-locked country to its gigantic neighbor and creating jobs. But critics say the railway and other major Chinese transport infrastructure and hydropower dam projects have left Laos perilously mired in high debt, with most Laotians struggling with high inflation, a depreciating currency and bleak prospects.
