Kunming Wujiaba International Airport, located in southeast of Kunming (Photo courtesy of Yunnan Airport Group Co. Ltd.)

November 22, 2007 -- On October 29, China Eastern opened a new flight from Kunming to Calcutta, making the Yunnan city the first in southwestern China to have a direct flight to India. In the same week, Angkor Airways, started flights from Kuming to the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. Yunnan now has direct flights to a wide range of Asian destinations: Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

In addition to air travel, Yunnan's government recently announced a strategic program for the construction of a new Europe-Asia Continent Bridge that would link China to Europe. A railroad starting from China's east coastal city Shenzhen will run through Yunnan to Burma, Bangladash, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and finally through to Europe.

"If Yunnan emerges as a joint of this continental bridge, Yunnan's advantage in transportation will be enhanced". Guangyuan Xu, an economist at Yunnan University told Emerging China. "With the development of transportation, Yunnan's importance in China's business with south Asia will be further developed in many aspects, said Xu.

Besides this program, there are other railroad projects to other countries under construction – such as a pan-Asia railroad is to be finished in 2015. This railroad will start from Singapore, through to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phnom Phen, to Loc Nink, Lao Cai in Vietnam, terminating in Kunming.

"The railroad and the newly opened airlines will further help Yunnan get into part of south and southeast Asia. Yunnan is now the leading province in China's tourism industry. Improvements in transportation will consolidate Yunnan's status as a tourism province. The convenience will not just increase the inbound traffic from south Asia, but it will also let international travelers get into China from southeast Asia and Yunnan." Ming Qingzhong, a consultant at Yunnan Economic and Cultural Development Committee, told Emerging China.

Kunming is also building a new airport in the satellite city of Chenggong. But before this Chenggong airport starts operations, the current Kunming International Airport will soon see a restructuring and expansion to meet the needs of more than 10 million passengers every year.

"The coming of many Chinese airlines and the growing number of passengers caused pressure on flight scheduling, as well as that of the international flights. This expansion is for both domestic and international business," an employee of China Eastern, who did want to be named, told Emerging China. "The newly opened flight to Calcutta is three times a week, but soon will be increased to once a day."

Another project underway is a new bridge over the Mekong River to connect Chiangkhong in Thailand and Ban Houayxay in Laos, to the Kunming-Bangkok Highway, complementing the highway through the Mekong River Region.

"We are looking forward to see the completion of this passage," Ms. Gu of Yunnan Tobacco Export and Import Co., Ltd, told Emerging China. "Currently our cargo has to take a long trip by railway to Guangzhou and then be put onto boats. These containers are expensive and there are not many of them, adding a lot to our costs. If the road allows the goods to be transported to Bangkok, that will reduce a large part of the cost." Tobacco is Yunnan's pillar industry, in a recent ranking of top 100 enterprises in Yunnan, three of the top ten are tobacco companies.

Tourism, tobacco, non-ferrous metal and flower are Yunnan' other major industries. Flowers, and fresh vegetables such as mushrooms are often sent as cargo to keep them fresh.

"The biggest exported goods are fresh flowers and vegetables. If new airlines will be opened, more flowers will go to the world," said the China Eastern source.

A newcomer in the same ranking of top 100 Yunnan companies are logistics companies.

"This also shows Yunnan's transportation is developing, and this helps the logistic industry," said Guangyuan Xu.

"Air, water, road and rail are our main method of transportation. As a transportation agent, the opening of new airlines will not influence us much, because the choice of transportation basically depends on our customers." Pan Peng, vice-manager of Yunnan Success International Logistic Co., Ltd. told Emerging China. Yunnan Success International Logistic is the first local logistic company, under the Provincial Economic and Trade Commission, deals with import and export currently mainly through air and water. "Almost all our customers are from international market, mainly from Europe, America and developed countries in Asia."

"If Yunnan's international trade business continues to grow, the demand for logistics service will definitely increase accordingly. We are very positive regarding the future of logistic industry," said Pan.

As well as improvements of the connections between and Yunnan, the province is also seeing internal transportation developments. In the east of Yunnan, Yuxi to Mengzi railway is under construction, along with railway connections between Mengzi and Hekou. In the west of the province, a railway from Dali to Ruili (next to Myanmar) is being built.

"The development in transportation will help Yunnan's interaction with ASEAN countries, make travel convenient for tourists, and consequently increase the local economy. Kunming as a inland province, shall take advantage of its 4,060 kilometer long borderline to consolidate its status as the transportation center that connects China with South and Southeast Asia," said Xu.