September 15

"People's Daily" front page article

Reporting on Yunnan

Smooth international channels and expand new space for cooperation

Unloading, transshipment, packing... China Railway Intermodal Kunming Central Station is extremely busy. Fresh durians coming from the China-Laos Railway are shipped from here to various places. In the first seven months of this year, Yunnan imported 270,000 tons of fresh durian, ranking among the top in the country.

The China-Laos Railway international freight train is being packed at Kunming Central Station of China Railway Intercity Railway. Photo by Yang Zixuan

Durians are not the only goods transported across the border on the China-Laos railway. "Agricultural products such as cassava starch, coffee beans, and rubber from South and Southeast Asian countries, along with Yunnan vegetables, 'Made in China' new energy buses, and electromechanical products, go in both directions on this railway." Tao Qiang, deputy director of the freight department of China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., Ltd., said that the types of cross-border commodities on the China-Laos railway have expanded to more than 3,000 types, and a total of 64.7 million tons of goods have been transported, including about 15 million tons of cross-border goods.

In March 2025, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized during his inspection in Yunnan: "Yunnan has unique geographical conditions and must actively promote high-level opening up to the outside world and build a radiation center for South Asia and Southeast Asia."

Deeply implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions, Yunnan takes the construction of radiation centers as a guide, coordinates the opening-up work, strengthens the construction of international major channels, expands new space for high-level openness and cooperation, and continues to promote Yunnan’s practice of high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road”.

"Hard connectivity" accelerates internal introduction and external communication——

In July this year, the first "Zheng He" sea-road-rail international intermodal transport train departed from the Tengjun International Land-Port Road-rail Intermodal Transport Center in Jinning District, Kunming City, and headed for Chittagong Port, Bangladesh. "This transportation route leads directly to the Indian Ocean, shortening the transportation distance by more than 1,000 kilometers and saving about 17 days." said He Shenglong, director of the Comprehensive Transportation Division of the Yunnan Provincial Department of Transportation.

The first train of the "Zheng He" sea-highway-rail international multimodal transport train is waiting to depart at the Tengjun International Land-Port Highway-Railway Intermodal Transport Center in Kunming. Photo by Peng Yikai

Yunnan has built a multi-dimensional network of transportation, energy, digital and other channels that radiates to 19 countries and regions, and interconnection is accelerating:

Vehicles are speeding, and the domestic sections of the China-Vietnam, China-Laos, and China-Myanmar international highways have all been completed;

Routes are densely covered, and the number of navigable cities in Kunming and South and Southeast Asia ranks among the top in the country;

The power grid is flying, Yunnan has built 14 cross-border power interconnection channels, and the China-Laos 500 kV interconnection project has started construction;

For data connectivity, the Kunming International Communications Business Entrance and Export Bureau will be completed and put into use, enabling direct data transmission to target countries or regions...

Accelerating the release of the "golden line" effect of the China-Laos railway, Yunnan has accelerated the improvement of the logistics system, has created 7 national logistics hubs, and has started construction on 77 major comprehensive development projects along the line.

"Soft Connectivity" expands open space——

Opening the "Bianhutong" mobile app and "swiping your face" for authentication, Zhang Chunyan, a resident of Mohan Town, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, quickly completed the customs clearance procedures for imported bananas. "In the past, people, goods, and certificates had to be on site, but now it can be done in seconds without leaving home."

It only took 2 months from docking and signing of the fresh cut flower export order from the United Arab Emirates. Wang Bo, director of the sales department of Yunnan Yuntianhua Flower Shop Technology Co., Ltd., said: "The 'Cloud Enterprises Going Overseas Alliance' connects 31 overseas commercial representative offices, 16 exhibition organizers and 53 business associations to connect enterprises with resources, provide compliance consulting and financial support, and support enterprises to organize groups to go overseas."

Making good use of 11 southward opening platforms and 12 multilateral (bilateral) cooperation mechanisms such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, in the first half of this year, the import and export trade volume between Yunnan and the member states of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement reached 67.21 billion yuan, accounting for 52.8% of the province's import and export trade volume; in the first eight months, the import and export trade volume between Yunnan and the countries co-building the "Belt and Road" reached 153.8 billion yuan, accounting for 85.9% of the province's total import and export value.

"Heart Connect" benefits more people——

In Tabanan County, Bali Province, Indonesia, the "Heart Connect Yunnan Tour" project sponsored by the Yunnan People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries has helped local rice farmers increase production and income; in Cambodia, Laos, Nepal and other countries, Yunnan Fuwai Cardiovascular Disease Hospital has helped more than 110,000 children screen for congenital heart disease, and 192 children with congenital heart disease have been treated.

Yunnan-Bali Organic Rice Cultivation Project Photo courtesy of Yunnan People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

Focusing on development needs and carrying out pragmatic cooperation, Yunnan has established 116 pairs of sister cities with 37 countries, continuously expanding the space for exchanges and cooperation with countries along the “Belt and Road”:

Cooperated with Mekong countries to build 88 international joint innovation platforms, and selected a total of 183 international science and technology commissioners to provide scientific and technological services;

Cross-border tourism is becoming increasingly popular. In the first half of this year, 7,978 Vietnamese tour groups entered the country through the Hekou Highway Port;

30 universities in Yunnan have opened 72 majors in South Asian and Southeast Asian languages. The Yunnan Malayan College of Yunnan University, jointly established by Yunnan University and the University of Malaya, has officially opened to promote the cultivation of high-level talents.

"Keeping in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions, Yunnan will speed up the construction of major internal and external channels, make full use of various open platforms in a coordinated manner, and build my country into a radiation center for South and Southeast Asia to promote great opening and great development, and create a new situation in Yunnan's development in the process of Chinese-style modernization." said Wang Ning, Secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee.