From December 12 to 13, the inaugural two-day “Southern Silk Road Development Form” was held in Kunming. At the opening ceremony, two projects, the “Secretariat of the Southern Silk Road Development Forum” and the “Project Center of the Southern Silk Road Development Forum” were officially unveiled. At present, the involved project center is concerned with more than 2,800 projects.

Participating representatives included dignitaries from governments, brain trusts, Chinese enterprises, leaders of commercial societies at home and abroad, and members of the mass media. Together they held a lively discussion and had reached the Kunming Consensus on Serving the Belt and Road Initiative and Building the Southern Silk Road. The consensus declares that Yunnan is a core area and key region for boosting the construction of the Southern Silk Road. At present, the construction of the Yunnan International Path has come into shape. That is to connect the vast area of southwest China with Southeast Asia, the South Asian sub-continent, Central Asia and West Asia, thus creating a world-wide ground transportation network.

Experts and scholars attending the meeting agreed the Southern Silk Road is a “Road of Peace”, a “Road of Economy”, a “Road of Culture” and a “Road of Friendship”. The Southern Silk Road, acts to build up the economic corridor connecting Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar, as well as connecting China and the Southeast Asian peninsula. These two passages strengthen friendly intercourse, economic cooperation and cultural exchanges between China and the countries in South and Southeast Asia. It is the common aspiration of all countries along the road, and will infuse a new power in regional economic and cultural cooperation.

News Link: The Southern Silk Road

The Southern Silk Road is one of China's ancient international passageways. In China, the route formed a great traffic network connecting southwest and south China. Outside of the country, the route formed a greater international network with Southeast Asia, the South Asian sub-continent and Central Asia. The Southern Silk Road now covers countries including Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Afghanistan.