Five years on: Xishuangbanna aims to form a hub of connectivity

Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in south Yunnan Province has basically formed the layout of a connectivity hub linking up China to the Asean countries via land, water and air routes, said Yang Guangbo, prefectural Deputy Party Secretary.

Yang said this at a press conference in Kunming on Sept. 27, which was held by Yunnan Government to review the work done in the past five years.  

Xishuangbanna, which means an ideal and mysterious land of joy, has been well-known for its unique scenic and cultural landscapes. However, the prefecture lies in the far southwest of China, and its socio-economic development used to be slow due to poor transport facilities.

In 2013, China put forward the Belt and Road Initiative, and Xishuangbanna was designated as an opening-up area because it borders Laos and Myanmar. Subsequently, transport facilities there were build up quickly, bringing new vigor and business opportunities.

In recent years, Xishuangbanna aims to be an interconnectivity hub via all-round communication routes, said Yang Guangbo, adding that this goal is line with the Belt and Road Initiative.

The busy Xishuangbanna Airport has opened direct air routes to tens of cities home and abroad. In 2016, a total of 34,849 flights were operated, carrying 4.3 million passengers and lifting 10,904 tons of cargo.

Another two airports will be built in the counties of Mengla and Menghai, with the existing one to be upgraded to a Class 4E airport.

Construction of the China-Laos railway is in full swing. The railway starts in Kunming, runs southward all the way through Yuxi, Pu'er and Xishuangbanna, and enters Laos via Mohan Port in the prefecture.

When the rail is put into traffic, a morning train from Kunming will take passengers to Vientiane at dusk.

The Mekong River, which is dubbed as the "Oriental Danube," flows through Xishuangbanna in abundance, creating conditions for shipping. The prefecture has begun a project to upgrade the Mekong section between boundary marker 244 and Lincang City.

The Xiaomengyang-Mohan section of the Kunming-Bangkok Highway in Xishuangbanna has been widened, with the upgrading work of the Lao section on the agenda.

Xishuangbanna also plans to build the Menglong-Mandong highway, which is expected to reach Thailand via Myanmar, reducing China-Thailand land distance to 186 km.

It is foreseeable that in the near future, Xishuangbanna will become a connectivity hub in the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and the Indo-China Peninsula Economic Corridor, said Yang.

Source: chinanews.com; Trans-editing by Eric Wang