According to the World Meteorological Organization and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, climate change and increasingly extreme weather events have caused a surge in natural disasters over the past 50 years, disproportionately impacting poorer countries.

The sunshine in October is still burning in a railing base on the northern outskirts of Lao capital Vientiane, but what Sida Phengphongsawanh, a trainee for China-Laos railway train driver, cares, is the jingle of the train maintenance which sounds like music.

As China and the United States have started to improve bilateral economic and trade relationship, the top two economies should conduct more trade consultations with a more rational and candid approach, according to experts and business leaders.

A railway port on the China-Russia border has boosted coal imports to meet the rising demand from power producers and heating suppliers in north China.