China's foreign minister urges haste in building economic corridor with Myanmar

ISTANBUL

China's foreign minister on Tuesday made a call to "speed up" the establishment of an economic corridor with its southern neighbor, Myanmar.

In a survey trip to a border area with Myanmar in southwestern Yunnan province, Qin Gang stressed the "need to fight cross-border crimes, promote bilateral trade and people-to-people exchanges and speed up the building of a China-Myanmar economic corridor (CMEC)."

Qin will also pay a trip on Tuesday to the junta-ruled Southeast Asian country, from where he will travel to India for a summit of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Myanmar is currently ruled by a military junta that overthrew the previous civilian National League for Democracy government in February 2021.

Signed in September 2018, the CMEC is 1,700 kilometers (1,051 miles) long and includes infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, and ports to connect Yunnan's provincial capital Kunming to the city of Mandalay in central Myanmar, Yangon further south and Kyaukphyu in the western Rakhine State.

Myanmar signed an agreement with China to establish the CMEC in September 2018.

Qin, who is also a state councilor, urged continued "stability" on China's border with Myanmar, according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry.

His trip to the border came a day after meeting with Noeleen Heyzer, the UN secretary-general's special envoy on Myanmar.

"The international society should respect Myanmar's sovereignty and promote political dialogue to restore peace and stability in Myanmar," Qin told Heyzer, calling for support to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) Five-Point Consensus on the country.

"We need to act prudently and pragmatically to prevent escalating tensions and spillover of the crisis," Qin said. "China is willing to provide support and help to Heyzer's mediation efforts."

On Tuesday, Qin visited the Jiegao Gate, Manman Passage at Wanding Port, Comprehensive Exhibition Center at Ruili Experimental Zone, and the "One Village, Two Countries" border community along the Yunnan border, the statement said, adding that he also listened to the "opinions and suggestions of grassroots units and front-line staff."

"Yunnan is at the forefront of work with Myanmar and plays a unique role in promoting China-Myanmar relations," said Qin.

"It is necessary to coordinate border management, border trade development, and bilateral relations, promote normal border trade and personnel exchanges between China and Myanmar, open ports as much as possible, speed up the construction of cross-border economic cooperation zones, and promote the construction of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor by focusing on production capacity cooperation and park construction."