Lancang-Mekong event comes to Yunnan province

The launch ceremony of 2022 Lancang-Mekong Week and a seminar with the theme of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and Connectivity recently took place in Kunming, capital city of Southwest China's Yunnan province.

The province borders the countries to the south of Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. The mighty Mekong River – the world's 12th longest river which is called the Lancang River in China – flows through six countries: China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Yunnan will carry out 14 Lancang-Mekong activities during the year, including forums, conferences, academic seminars, vocational training, cultural exchanges and sports events.

Leaders and officials from the Yunnan provincial government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar, the Asian department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yunnan University or YNU, the consulates general of Mekong River countries based in Kunming and other interested parties attended the launch on-site and online.

Academics from Lancang-Mekong countries were invited to participate in the seminar, to look forward to further development and improvements to the direction of governance in the region.

The launch ceremony for Lancang-Mekong Week takes place at the Daguan Building in Kunming city. [Photo/ynu.edu.cn]

One topic was power supplies and what China and Laos could do jointly to improve the picture in the region. Due to the limitations of Laos' national power grid, experts said they believed that power cooperation between the two countries should be deepened by combining China's power management experience, technology and talent.  

Elsewhere, the China-Laos Railway was another popular subject. With its second five-year plan (2023-27) drawing closer, more than 30 experts and scholars from over 10 universities, scientific research institutions at home and abroad said they believed the opening of the railway – an electrified line connecting Kunming in China and Vientiane city in Laos – had boosted commerce between western China and the Lancang-Mekong countries.

The seminar promoted the integration of the Lancang-Mekong sub-region, the developments flowing from the new regional RCEP trade agreement and the globalization process.

The special series of upcoming activities are expected to be conducive to further responding to the initiative of the Lancang-Mekong leaders' meeting.

The events are said to have become important platforms for Yunnan University to promote Lancang-Mekong friendly cooperation and academic research – further demonstrating the ability of YNU to extend its influence towards South and Southeast Asia.