China to Spend US$5 Million in Dredging Mekong River

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, January 13, 2002

China to Spend US$5 Million in Dredging Mekong River

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China will spend five million U.S. dollars in dredging a navigation section of the Mekong River, a project that also involves Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, said sources with the Yunnan Provincial Navigation Administration Friday.

The 331-kilometer section runs from No. 243 demarcation stone between China and Myanmar to Kouaxay in Laos. The project will begin in mid-February and is expected to be completed before the rainy season next year.

The section is part of the Lancang-Mekong River course which opened to commercial navigation in China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand last June. Shipping now can navigate unrestricted on the waterway from the Simao Port in Yunnan Province, southwest China, to Louang Prabang Port in Laos, a total of 886 kilometers.

Experts from the four countries have carried out a series of on-the-spot investigations along the section of the river, which, after the dredging project, is expected to allow ships of 100 deadweight tons to pass all the year round.

Further improvements will be made in the section to allow ships of 300 deadweight tons to pass even in dry seasons by the year 2007, experts said.

Experts say the improvement of the course will not affect the water flow, depth and run-off in the river, the local environment and the demarcation lines between the countries involved.

Currently, the annual navigational capacity of the Lancang-Mekong River is four million tons, and it is expected to reach 10 million tons by 2007.

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