History
Yunnan has for much of its history long suffered from poor transport links because of its mountainous, rugged and broken terrain.
Up until World War II Yunnan had only one rail link with the outside world, which was to Vietnam. The 1906–1910 French-built railroad connected the capital Kunming to Hanoi and Haiphong in Vietnam. Since the mid-1950s, railroads have been built to link Kunming with both Guizhou and Sichuan and thus to other parts of China.
It is in the development of highways that Yunnan has made the fastest progress, opening links with neighbouring provinces and achieving a balanced network within the province. Kunming City, Baoshan City, and Pu'er City (to the southwest) form the triangular axis of Yunnan's road system, from which radiate numerous highways. The most famous of these routes is the Burma Road, running from Kunming to Lashio in Myanmar.
The extensive road development program has produced significant effects. Travel and trade with Guizhou, Guangxi, and Sichuan have increased, and the close links with Tibet and Xinjiang have proved their strategic value. But most important has been the momentum for development and modernization in the remote regions.
Truck transport logistics reaches most villages and towns, making available large quantities of modern equipment tools, fertilizers, and daily necessities to the farmers, while making it possible to ship farm and agricultural products to near or distant markets where they can be sold to the best possible advantage of the producers.
Major road, rail and air transport infrastructure projects in Yunnan and its Southeast Asia are currently underway to further facilitate trade with ASEAN. Some of the more notable projects include a highway linking Kunming with Singapore, a rail network linking Kunming and Singapore via three trunk lines passing through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia, a new international airport in Kunming and an integrated road-rail transport corridor linking Kunming with Haiphong, Vietnam – the closest seaport to Kunming.
Read more about this topic: Transport In Yunnan
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