Yunnan: An active player in China’s Belt and Road

As China’s Belt and Road Initiative proceeds, more and more Yunnan-based companies are engaging in diversified cooperation with neighboring countries.

Yunnan and its neighbors

In the field of infrastructure, the Yunnan Investment Group has invested more than ten billion yuan on the Yunnan section of the China-Laos International Railway, a line that will one day be part of the Pan-Asia Railway. 

As an important Belt and Road endeavor by China and Cambodia, Siem Reap Angkor International Airport is jointly invested in by Yunnan Investment Holdings and two other Yunnan-based companies, all of which own 55-year franchise operational rights for the airport.

In terms of industrial cooperation, the Yunnan Construction Investment Group has invested in the Say Settha Comprehensive Development Zone in Vientiane, a national foreign economic and trade cooperation zone covering an area of 11.5 square kilometres. Yunnan Aluminium Group’s Lao alumina project is an important factor in Yunnan’s engagement with the Belt and Road Initiative. With a prospective investment of roughly USD 900 million, the project will have an annual output of three million tons of bauxite and a production capacity of one million tons of aluminium. As the largest industrial project in the country, it will bring more opportunities for the development of Laos.

Agricultural partnerships between Yunnan State Farms Group and the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry have seen the establishment of a rubber industry research institute. It has helped introduce Yunnan’s advanced rubber plantation methods, as well as harvesting and processing technologies to Laos. Currently, the group has a 6,667-hectare rubber planting area in Laos, and it is expected to grow by some seven times over the next few years. Ten rubber processing plants are also planned to drive the development of rubber industry in Laos. (Li Jihong)

Editor: Eric Wang