One Belt and One Road
Construction Blueprint Briefed for Mengla Pilot Zone
Yan Jiafen
Recently, a press conference was held by Yunnan Province to brief about the establishment of Mengla (Mohan) Key Development and Opening-up Pilot Zone approved by the State Council. And the overall vision, functional orientation and preparation etc. of the construction of the pilot zone were also briefed.
On July 16, 2015, The State Council approved the establishment of Mengla (Mohan) Key Development and Opening-up Pilot Zone. At the beginning of August, an implementation plan for the construction of the pilot zone was issued and distributed by the National Development and Reform Commission. It was the second national key development and opening-up pilot zone (the first being the Ruili Pilot Zone) in Yunnan.
Mengla (Mohan) Key Development and Opening-Up Pilot Zone is located at the south end of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Connected to the land of Laos in the east, south and west and with Myanmar on the other side of Mekong River in the west, the pilot zone is an important front for cooperation between China and countries in Indo-China Peninsula.
According toits functional orientation, the pilot zone will be built into an important platform for the strategic cooperation between China and Laos, a comprehensive transportation hub connecting China and countries on the Indo-China Peninsula, an important economic growth pole and forefront of ecological progress in Chinas border areas, and a demonstration zone of an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood. The zone aims to build two belts, two cores, and five areas by focusing on institutional innovation.
The two belts are the Menglun-Mohan Thoroughfare Economic Belt and Jinghong-Guanlei Riverside Economic Belt. The former (Menglun-Mohan), by taking advantage of the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway, will focus on the development of industries including land transportation, warehouse logistics, international trade, processing for imports and exports, and cultural tourism etc. Meanwhile, the latter, by taking advantage of the Lancang-Mekong River that connects China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam etc., will focus on the development of industries including international shipping, shipbuilding and cross-border tourism etc.
The two cores are the Mohan Economic Cooperation Zone development core and Mengla Modern Service Nesting Zone development core. The first core takes advantage of Mohan Economic Cooperation Zone in order to expedite the planning and construction of China-Laos Mohan-Moding Economic Cooperation Zone. The second core, with Mengla Town as the center, focuses on the development of modern services such as finance, logistics, information, healthcare, recreation and tourism, health and service for the elderly etc. so as to improve the integrated development of Mengla-Mohan and to build an international base for commercial services, a window for international cultural exchanges, and an international city of ecological recreation and tourism.
The five areas are the functional area of port economy, the functional area of processing for imports and exports, the functional area of cultural tourism, the functional area of featured agriculture, and the functional area of ecological shield. In the functional area of port economy, the development of industries such as the international transportation of both passengers and goods and the commercial logistics etc. will be speeded up, and an integrated international port and a logistics center will be built in the Greater Mekong Region. In the functional area of processing for import and export, a processing base for import and export that integrates industries such as processing, commercial trade and logistics will be built. In the functional area of cultural tourism, industries such as ethnic culture, recreational vacation, ecological sightseeing, and Movie and TV media etc. will be developed. In the functional area of featured agriculture, the focus will be on the rapid development of the advantageous agricultural industries such as quality rice, rubber and tea etc.; and a tropical ecological agricultural demonstration base with significant features will be built. In the functional area of ecological shield, an ecological security shield will be built to protect biological diversity by strengthening the protection of the national natural conservation area in Mengla, Xishuanbanna and the cross-border conservation area jointly managed by China and Laos.
