Chinese section of Kunming-Bangkok Highway completed
BY DAI ZHENGHUA
The Xiaomengyang-Mohan Freeway is an important section of the Kunming-Bangkok Highway in China. It was completed and opened to traffic on September 28, further reducing travel times between the cities of Yunnan, Laos and Thailand.
The freeway begins in Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, and ends at the China-Laos border city of Mohan. From there it extends all the way to the Thai capital Bangkok via Laos, thus connecting the three countries.
The construction of Xiaomengyang-Mohan Freeway lasted 21 months spanning 2015 to 2017, and was completed 15 months ahead of schedule. The 167-kilometre, two-way, four-lane expressway traverses possible Asian elephant migration routes and was specially designed to take the wildlife protection into account.
Xishuangbanna governor, Luo Hongjiang, said at the highways opening ceremony that its completion marks the adoption of international freeway standards and that the road is set to become an important channel to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between China and Southeast Asia.
The number of people traveling via the Kunming-Bangkok Highway to Laos and Thailand has been on the rise over the past several years. The opening of this freeway will definitely increase the number of tourists visiting the two countries, said Yi Jun, general manager of a road trip travel agency. Travel time in the past was around 10-12 hours, including a one-night stop. Now that duration has been reduced to 8-9 hours with the completion of the freeway.
Ma Yong, director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, believes that traffic has always been a major constraint to exchanges and cooperation between Yunnan and Southeast Asia. Operation of the Xiaommengyang-Mohan Freeway will be conducive not only to Chinas opening-up, but also promote win-win cooperation between China and its neighbouring countries.
