BEIJING, Apr 28, 2006 --Yunnan Province in southwest China is striving
to open up more golden waterways in a bid to become China's shipping
giant with ASEAN as its main partner.

According to the director of Navigation Affair Administration Bureau of
Yunnan, Yunnan Province is far from the Sea, and its mountainous region
covers 94% of the total area, so developing waterway transport is
seemingly not so advisable. But the past five years have witnessed
24.5% rise in average shipping freight turnover of Yunnan Province, and
its growth ranks first among various means of transportation. For
example, in 2005, the 300-ton cargo ship put in the Lantsang (Lancang)
boasted the largest one in the Mekong River international navigation;
the 1000-ton barge put in the Jinsha River was honored as the largest
in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Over the past five years, the whole province has finished the
renovation of the Mekong River waterway, the renovation of the Manting
Sand Bar of Lantsang (Lancang), the infrastructure construction
projects of such ports as the Jinghong Port, the Simao Port and the
Xintan Dock of Jinsha River. Yunnan also has embarked on the
fifth-class waterway construction and the construction of maritime
affairs safeguard system of Lantsang. 1184 kilometer new waterways have
been increased; 11 ports, over 100 ports of call have been built; over
100 ferries have been improved and more than 200 hatch ships have been
upgraded. The construction of infrastructure facilities gives an
incentive to the waterway transport development of Yunnan Province.

>From China News, Page 1, Thursday, April 27, 2006

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Lancang-Mekong" group.
To post to this group, send email to Lancang-Mekong@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to Lancang-Mekong-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Lancang-Mekong
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---