Railway line heralds new trading dawn (2)

Economic circles

On the map of Yunnan, the Yuxi-Mengzi Railway directly connects Honghe with Kunming, along with the existing Kunming-Yuxi Railway. Those areas are rich in mineral, biological, cultural and tourism resources. The most immediate effect of the railway's operation is to further enhance Kunming-Yuxi rail transport capabilities. "More importantly, it runs through several cities in central and southern Yunnan so economic factors can flow into each other more smoothly," said Duan Gang, president of the Yunnan Institute of Economic Research.

According to Liu from the Kunming Railway Bureau, Yunnan will become a big economic center, of which cores will be the central Yunnan Industrial District, the Kunming-Yuxi green industrial economy and Kunming-Yuxi leisure tourism economy. There will be two wings - the four cities of Kunming, Qujing, Yuxi and Chuxiong, with Kunming at the center.

The central Yunnan economic circle will be the economic, political, cultural and transportation center. The area will function as the core driving force to promote the integration of the province's economic resources and factors of production, Duan said.

Efforts have been made to promote the construction of central Yunnan Industrial District, focusing on high-end vehicle and equipment manufacturing, electronic information, biology, new materials, textile appliances and a modern services industry cluster area, according to the provincial government.

The Yuxi-Mengzi Railway and the Kunming-Bangkok Highway, along with the construction of the Pan-Asia Railway, will link the southern Yunnan economic circle with cities including Gejiu, Kaiyuan, Mengzi and Jianshui with Mohan and other important ports.

Rich natural and human resources in the area give it a huge advantage on top of the new communication links. The southern Yunnan economic circle is also part of the Kun-River Economic Corridor and there are also the central Yunnan economic connections to the Indian and Pacific Oceans east line and midline arteries.

Accelerating opening

The manufacturing capacity formed by the central Yunnan economic circle will steadily go to the southern Yunnan economic circle, targeted at the ASEAN market and other major importers around the world. The Yuxi-Mengzi Railway will also take on northward transport tasks from the southern Yunnan economic circle and also ASEAN regional resources in order to meet the central Yunnan economic circle requirement for industrial development.

Gejiu city contributes more than 90 percent of the country's output of refined tin. Xiaolongtan coal mine is Yunnan's largest open-cut brown coal mine, located in Kaiyuan.

In addition, the southern Yunnan region is also rich in iron, lead, gold and other mineral resources. These are indispensable for the development of the central Yunnan economic circle.

The Pan-Asia Railway will be the third Asia-Europe continental bridge linking China and ASEAN economies. As an important part of the east line of the Pan-Asia Railway, the Yuxi-Mengzi Railway will carry even more far-reaching significance.

In 2011, China's State Council announced its support to Yunnan province to accelerate the construction of an important frontier for Southwest China to open up, creating a historic opportunity for Yunnan. The Yuxi-Mengzi Railway will act as a highly significant link between China and Southeast Asian markets, further strengthening cooperation and exchanges between the countries, especially Vietnam, said Duan.

"For Yunnan, the railway has the positive significance of improving the province's railway network layout as well as the state of the railway business, promoting safe production and optimizing the railway industry structure. In the future, Yunnan will rely on the Pan-Asia Railway East Line to speed up the pace of opening-up and economic development and accelerate its integration into the global market," Liu Baisheng said.