Transport in Yunnan
Travel and trade with Guizhou, Guangxi, and Sichuan have increased, and the close links with Tibet and Xinjiang have proved their strategic value.
Major road, rail and air transport infrastructure projects in Yunnan and its Southeast Asia are currently underway to further facilitate trade with ASEAN.
Currently, more than 100 domestic and international air routes have been opened leading to different provinces and municipalities of China as well as Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Rangoon, Vientiane, Hanoi, Chiang Mai, Tokyo and Seoul.
In the province, there are another 12 feeder airports in Wenshan, Mangshi, Pu'er, Zhaotong, Baoshan, Dali, Lijiang, Diqing, Lincang, Jinghong, Ninglang and Tengchong.
To date, with Kunming at the nerve center and inter-provincial and intra-provincial roads as the backbone, Yunnan's highway network has stretched to cover all townships and 98 percent of the villages in the province.
Yunnan is planning to focus on the upgrading and expansion of 6 trunk roads leading to other provinces and neighboring countries with the objective of turning them into a highway network.
National Road 108: From Panzhihua of Sichuan into Yunnan, cross Yongren, Yuanmou and Wuding to Kunming, it covering 278 km.
National Road 213: From Yibin of Sichuan to Yunnan, cross Zhaotong, Kunming, Yuxi and Simao to Xishuangbanna, it covering 1,581 km.
It will pass Laos and finally get to Bangkok of Thailand, which will become a more convenient passage to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
National Road 323: From Baise of Guangxi into Yunnan, cross Yanshan, Kaiyuan, Jianshui, Yuanjiang, Pu'er to Lincang, it covering 928 km.
This was part of the economic coordination of southwest China's six provinces, regions and municipalities (Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Tibet, Guangxi and Chongqing).
Since the late 1990s, the railway network in Yunnan has undergone considerable track upgrade and electrification to boost carrying capacity.
This line follows the same route as the existing Shanghai–Kunming Railway from Shanghai on the East China Sea to Kunming via Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan province, passing through the major cities of Hangzhou, Nanchang and Changsha.
In the center, under planning is a rail line from Yuxi to Mohan, in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, on the border with Laos.
In June 2001, commercial shipping service among China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand on the Lancang-Mekong River was officially inaugurated.
There are no seaports in Yunnan, as the province is landlocked, however water transport to peninsular Southeast Asia, via the Mekong river is available from Jinghong, as stated above.
Yunnan's government announced in 2004 a strategic program for the construction of a new "Europe-Asia Continental Bridge" that would link China to Europe.
A railroad starting from China's east coastal city Shenzhen will run through Yunnan to Burma, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and finally through to Europe.
This railroad will start from Singapore, through to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, to Loc Nink, Lao Cai in Vietnam, terminating in Kunming.
Yunnan's international and domestic trade continues to grow and the demand for logistics services has increased rapidly.
