China's Silk Road plan faces cross-border hurdles

Kunming

FOR the south-western city of Kunming, China's plan to extend a high-speed rail link 3,000km south to Singapore is already a boon: pristine expressways, a gleaming station and something of a real estate boom, as young buyers crowd property showrooms.

In Laos, work has yet to start on what should be the first overseas leg of a rail line stretching throughout South-east Asia. The country, one of the region's poorest, could struggle to finance even part of the US$7 billion cost and has yet to agree financial terms with China.