Built by China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation and funded by the Export-Import Bank of China, the Benguela Railway that traverses Angola was completed and opened to traffic on February 14, 2015. This is the second longest railway China has built overseas. The railway is designed for speeds of up to 90 km an hour, the fastest in Angola.

The 1,344-kilometer-long railway lies in the middle of Angola. It connects Angola's Atlantic port of Lobito to its eastern border town of Luao, and to the rail networks of the south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and beyond. The railway was first built by the Portuguese in 1929, but was later destroyed during a 27-year civil war. In 2002, Angola government launched a restoration program.

In 2004, China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation won the tender, setting records for Chinese enterprises in several fields of overseas railway construction. In the design, construction, and technologies of the railway, Chinese specifications have replaced all the previous European specifications. The steel rails, cement, communication equipment, heavy machinery and equipment were all purchased from China, as well as the locomotives and carriages. A total of over 3 billion yuan in import and export value was generated.

At the completion ceremony held on February 14, 2015, Angola president José Eduardo dos Santos said that the Benguela railway displays Chinese spirit and Chinese power to the whole world. The government of Angola has been impressed with the cost performance and construction quality of the project, as have several foreign railway construction companes. It will be marked with a monument.

The Benguela railway has the capacity to carry more than 4 million passengers and 20 million tons of cargo annually. The reopened railway will help accelerate economic development of Angola as well as the entire region of southern Africa.