Lawmakers from Yunnan called for the early start of the construction
of international passages linking the province in southwest
China with southeast Asia.
The lawmakers made
the call during deliberations at the ongoing fourth session
of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing.
Li Yunguang, head
of the communications department of the provincial government,
said the province has seen the most rapid development of its
road network in history over the last five years.
However, he said
in many places, backward road network has prevented further
development of trade between Yunnan and neighboring Myanmar,
Thailand, the Laos and others.
He urged the government
approving international passage projects that have been discussed
for years as soon as possible.
One of the projects
is the Pan-Asian Railway, which involves the construction
of a railway running through Yunnan to the Laos, Thailand,
Malaysia and Singapore.
Another project
is a highway from Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, to
Bangkok. A 200-kilometer section of the highway on the Chinese
territory remains to be built.
Yunnan governor
Li Jiating warned that the province risks the danger of missing
the huge opportunities offered by the central government's
west China development strategy, if it fails to further improve
its transport infrastructure.
(People's Daily
03/15/2001)
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