At 8:14am on December 28, 2017, the bullet train G1372 connecting Kunming and Shanghai slowly pulled out of the platform from Kunmingnan High-speed Railway Station. This marked the debut of the Fuxing electric multiple unit (EMU) train in Yunnan. It was a special gift for the province on the high-speed rail’s one-year anniversary. In recent years, Yunnan has sped up its policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, facilitation of trade, the integrity of its finance sector and people-to-people exchanges with the countries of South and Southeast Asia, all in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In terms of policy communication, Yunnan gives full play to its role as a major driver in the  development of China-Indo China Peninsula Economic Corridor, the BCIM Economic Corridor and Lancang-Mekong Cooperation. Additionally, it is playing a role in a number of regional cooperative mechanisms between Yunnan and the northern parts of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Currently, the province has established 11 such bilateral and multilateral cooperative mechanisms with nine countries.

In terms of infrastructure connectivity, Yunnan works hard to promote infrastructure projects connecting it to the rest of the world. As of October, 2017, highways and railways in Yunnan totaled 4,471 kilometres and 3,650 kilometres, respectively. Moreover, the high-speed rail between Shanghai and Kunming is now open to traffic.

With regard to trade facilitation, Yunnan has taken the lead in China to pioneer the “3 in 1” trade facilitation mechanism across 25 international ports. As its trading partners cover South Asia, Southeast Asia and many other countries worldwide, Yunnan’s foreign trade totaled 141.57 billion yuan (20.91 billion US dollars) between January and November 2017, up 24.2 percent year-on-year. Yunnan has also built 17 cooperative functional areas under seven categories and held four sessions of China-South Asia Expo.

The paid-in capital Yunnan attracted over the first 11 months of 2017 totaled 802.59 billion yuan, up 14.8 percent year-on-year. Total investment of projects reached 710.7 billion yuan, an increase of 15.4 percent over the same period last year. As of October 2017, there were more than 130 global 500 companies with established business presences in Yunnan.

Yunnan has been promoting comprehensive financial reform along its borders. As of October 2017, Yunnan’s RMB businesses have covered 82 overseas countries and regions, establishing cross-border settlement channels with 884 overseas banking institutions.

In addition to expanded exchanges and cooperation between governments, Yunnan has also conducted people-to-people exchanges with other countries in the tourism, education, science, technology, culture, health, sports, media, and think tank sectors over the years.