Yunnan Proposes Establishment of Lancang-Mekong Tourism Zone

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 ◆ Yunnan Proposes Establishment of Lancang-Mekong Tourism Zone

The government of southwest China's Yunnan Province has proposed the creation of a tourism zone along the Lancang-Mekong rivers in collaboration with Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The proposal was put forth by a Yunnan official during a recent international seminar organized to discuss the establishment of an east-west economic corridor. According to the proposal, six cross-border travel routes will be established. The first would link tourist destinations in China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, the second, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and China, the third, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and China, the fourth, China, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, the fifth, Laos, Myanmar and China and the sixth, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Yunnan is ready to open air, water, highway and railway transport routes to the above-mentioned countries. At present, visitors to Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and China find it inconvenient to travel to the Southeast Asian countries due to the absence of an international agreement on entry and exit procedures and on currency circulation. If the tourism zone becomes a reality, it will serve as an experimental model for the development of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone, the official said.