Reporters from Mekong countries praise opening up of Yunnan

From the 12th to the 19th, the Seminar for Media Officials and Journalists from Mekong Countries took place in Kunming. The training was organized by the Yunnan Daily Press Group. Over the nine-day training, 17 students from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam were joined by journalists from the Yunnan Daily Press Group. Together they rode high-speed trains, visiting Kunming and Lincang. The reporters were so impressed, and gave generous praise to the development and opening up of Yunnan’s border areas.

On the morning of June16, more than 10 trucks from China and Myanmar waiting for cargo inspection stopped at the Goods Inspection Station at Qingshuihe Landport in Mengding Town, Lincang. Qingshuihe landport is connected to Myanmar’s mountains and rivers. It is a state-levelled open port and is 983 kilometres away from Kyaukpyu Port in Myanmar. It is one of the most convenient land passages linking South Asia and Southeast Asia to Yunnan.

“China and Myanmar have a close friendship,” said U Myo Maung Maung, assistant reviser of the Publicity and Public Relations Department of Myanmar Information Ministry, believes that the linking of Yunnan’s Qingshuihe landport to Kyaukpyu Port of Myanmar is only a small marker of the friendly cooperation between Myanmar and China.

“I think the inspection and customs clearance system in operation at the China-Myanmar border at Qingshuihe Port is comprehensive and efficient, facilitating trade and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries,” said Visith Teppalath, a reporter from Laos’ Vientiane Times, impressed by the fingerprint verification system of identification at the border.

Due to the increase in border trade and personnel exchanges between China and Myanmar, Qingshuihe Port’s facilities are also constantly upgraded. The new border crossing to be completed in 2020 is 900 meters away from the existing border crossing. Lincang-Qingshuihe Expressway will pass through the middle of the border crossing directly.

On the afternoon of the 16th, the reporters went to Mangtuan Village in Gengma Dai Nationality Autonomous County, known as the “ First Village of China’s Dai Nationality Paper-making”, to experience the charm of the Dai nationality’s handmade papermaking culture.

The papermaking of the Dai people in Mangtuan Village has a history of more than 600 years. The paper industry was an important means of increasing local income, its output reached 1.5 million sheets last year, with a the sales income of more than 4 million yuan. Long Seng, Advisor and Deputy Director-general of Administration and Finance of Cambodian Ministry of Information expressed his approval, saying: “This is a great example of the development of rural wealth. This trip has really been worth while! 

Reporting by Wang Huan