Int’l shipping resumes on Mekong waterway

International shipping service resumes on the Lancang-Mekong waterway on September 17. Photo by Dai Zhenhua/Yunnan Daily

As a cargo ship carrying 226 tons of potatoes departed from south Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture and sailed for Thailand, the international shipping service resumed on the Lancang-Mekong waterway on September 17.

Cargo transportation via the international waterway has been suspended for Covid prevention since April 2020, when the Guanlei port in Xishuangbanna was temporarily closed.

 

International shipping service resumes on the Lancang-Mekong waterway on September 17. Photo by Zhao Like/China Daily 

As a water gateway for goods from Yunnan to enter Southeast Asia, Guanlei port was built up and opened to traffic in 1996, and its cargo transport volume peaked at 544,000 tons in 2019. The trade value reached a record high of 259 million US dollars that year.

In spite of the resumption of cargo transport, Guanlei port will strictly follow the Covid-prevention measures to ensure safe operation.

 

International shipping service resumes on the Lancang-Mekong waterway on September 17. Photo by Zhao Like/China Daily 

Source: Xinhua and Yunnan Daily; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue