New Chapter in Road Network Connectivity

By Hu Xiaorong， Li Jihong & Li Chenghan

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New Chapter in Road Network Connectivity

By Hu Xiaorong， Li Jihong & Li Chenghan

An interchange on the Longling-Ruili Expressway.

During and after China's Spring and Autumn Period （770-476 BC）, a land route was created, stretching from Sichuan to Myanmar, via Yunnan's Dali, Baoshan and Tengchong. It was connected to the South Asian Sub-Continent and the Indochina Peninsula. Known as the Ancient Southern Silk Road, it snaked through deep mountains and crossed rapid rivers.

Chinese and Myanmar merchants used this route for trade exchanges. Today, both countries are making efforts to write a new chapter in the history of the ancient road.

As an important node in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, Yunnan has in recent years been making efforts to promote exchanges and cooperation with Myanmar for interconnectivity in infrastructure, and construction of energy and communication projects. The purpose is to achieve common development in South and Southeast Asia in the spirit of mutual benefit and win-win.

Heart Warming Roads

Lincang is a prefectural-level city of Yunnan Province. Not far from the Qingshui River Port is the parking lot of the Daewoo Commercial Agricultural and Sideline Products Trading Market. When your correspondent went there, it was filled with big trucks and workers busy loading or unloading goods. Drivers were going through procedures for these goods to be shipped to China's hinterland.

“Every day there are 20-30 trucks coming from Myanmar to Lincang. From there Myanmar sesame, mung beans and other Myanmar agricultural and sideline products are transported to Kunming and some other major cities of China,” said Huang Junlin, who is engaged in logistics business.

According to Huang, completion of the highway from the Qingshui River of China to Tein Ni of Myanmar, has greatly improved the highway transport capacity.“Now, the freight volume of this road hasincreased more than threefold.”

Te highway starts from Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. It runs 1,633 km to Kyaukpyuin of Myanmar, to link with ocean shipping sailing the Indian Ocean. Qinshui River Port in Lincang is the exit point. When the expressway from Kunming to the Qingshui River Port （via Yuxi and Puerh） is opened, the distance will be further shortened by 77 km.

Impressive progress has been made in construction of highways between Yunnan Province and Myanmar. Over the past few years, Yunnan has redoubled eforts to build three transport corridors： China Kunming-China Ruili-Myanmar Mandalay-Myanmar Kyaukpyu, China Kunming-China Ruili-Myanmar Irrawaddy River and Yangon（China-Myanmar Land and Waterway Transport Channel）, and China Kunming-China Yingjiang-Myanmar Myitkyina-Ledo（India）. The purpose is to promote China-Myanmar trafc interconnectivity, transport facilitation and greater personnel and goods transit freedom.

Talking of what Yunnan has done over the past few years, Zhang Fachun, Chief Planner of the Yunnan Provincial Communications and Transportation Commission, said that this will definitely be a boon for Yunnan in opening up and economic development and lucrative opportunities for Myanmar's future development.“It will also help promote development of Myanmar's tourism trade, agriculture and industry.”

Construction of the Baoshan-Ruili Railway, the western section of the Trans-Asian Railway, ofcially started in December 2015. Te railway will link with the railway networks in South and Southeast Asia. The section goes through Yunnan, stretching from Kunming to Chuxiong, Dali, Baoshan, and eventually to Ruili, a small Chinese town on the China-Myanmar border. The Baoshan-Ruili segment is an important part of the Dali-Ruili Railway and the western section of the Trans-Asian Railway.

Energy Cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping referred to“interconnectivity” several times in his APEC conference speech. Infrastructure construction is key to “interconnectivity”. The early period of the Belt and Road construction will inevitably involve construction of railways, highways and oil and gas pipelines, inevitably creating increased demand for energy in the region.

In the next five years, Yunnan plans to undertake 565 infrastructure projects related to the “fve networks” - road, air, energy supply, water supply and the Internet. Tese projects are expected to consume 1.6 trillion Yuan （US$250 billion）, but they greatly improve trafc conditions between Yunnan and Myanmar.

In 2006, the Yunnan Power Grid Corporation joined hands with two domestic companies in the development of the Shan State Shweli I Hydropower Plant in 2006. In December 2008, the Yunnan Power Grid Corporation began importing power from Myanmar through the first 230 kV China-Myanmar power network. In fact, Yunnan was the frst area in China to both export and import power, a major step toward an optimized power market.

Transmitting power from west to east is a national project, and Yunnan is a major force of power supply to eastern areas of the hinterland. So, why does it need to import power from Myanmar？

To answer the question, Wang Wen, Deputy General Manager of the Yunnan Power Grid Corporation, had this to say： “We do it to support Myanmar and, at the same time, cultivate the power market of ASEAN countries.”

At present, Yunnan supplies power from Xishuangbanna to Myanmar through a 110 kV transmission line； and Myanmar transmits power to Yunnan from Pingjiang and Ruilijiang through a 500 kV and two 220 kV lines. In 2015, Yunnan sold 59 million KwH of electricity to Myanmar, and bought 1.353 billion KwH of electricity from Myanmar. In September 2015, Yunnan entered into positive cooperation with Myanmar's Shan State Special Region 4 in the development of power. Tis blazed a new road for power cooperation with Myanmar.

Exploiting domestic and overseas markets and resources, the Yunnan Power Grid Corporation is building an internationalized regional power grid, and, at the same time, constructing a fairly complete international marketing system and target market. Nowadays, Yunnan has built an interconnected power grid with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and other countries, and this has become a new GDP growth point for their trade.

According to officials, the Yunnan Power Grid will couple efforts to maintain the level of cross-border power trade with looking for new felds of cooperation. While maintaining grid-to-grid power supply, efforts will be made to explore the mode of direct power supply； in the field of power purchase, while continuing to purchase power from Myanmar's Shweli I Hydropower Plant and the Taiping River Power Plant, eforts will be made to explore new power supply models.

Energy and telecommunications industries, indispensable in daily life, play an important role for economic and social development. Strengthening bilateral cooperation in the felds of energy and telecommunications sectors constitute the major base for win-win cooperation between both countries.

China Unicom has passed two rounds of examination for a Myanmar business operating license on October 29, 2015. The business license includes： building land cable and submarine cable facilities and a business network； provide special line, international and domestic exchange, public data and international gateway business. China Unicom plans to set up service outlets in Yangon, Mandalay and Kyaukpyu.

Interconnectivity has brought about big changes in the China-Myanmar border regions. Predictably, with the further improvement of land routes, China and Myanmar will have closer cooperation in such fields as the China-Myanmar highway, waterway transportation networks, energy and communication. All of these projects will bring benefits not only to both countries but the region at large.