China Opens Major Port on Lancang River

Simao Port, along the Lancang River in southwest China's Yunnan Province, has been approved by the State Council to open to the outside as an international port.

Simao is the country's first international port along the river, which is called the Mekong River after it enters Laos, and flows through Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam into the South China Sea. The Lancang-Mekong River is considered a promising route for linking west China with the five southeast Asian countries.

Construction on the port started in 1990 and it opened in 1993. It includes four docks and can handle 70,000 tons of cargo and 40,000 passengers annually.

With a 1,750-sq m storage, the port has a daily loading and unloading capacity of 500 tons.

Now, Simao has opened waterways with Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.

In recent years, roads, a post office, a water treatment plant and numerous farm markets have been built at the port.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/