China will upgrade the channel of the Lancang-Mekong River, which
runs through six Asian countries, to pave the way for cross-nation
water transport.
The project is scheduled to be launched in the spring of 2003 at an
estimated investment of 150 million yuan (US$18 million).
Springing from the Qinghai-
Tibet Plateau, the Lancang-Mekong River runs through Laos,
Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and China with a total length
of 4,880 km. Its lower reaches outside of China are known as the
Mekong.
The dredging project covers a 158-km section from the minor
Ganlanba in southwest China's
Yunnan Province to the Number 243 Boundary Stone on the
Sino-Myanmar border.
China has already finished dredging from the Number 243 Boundary
Stone to Ban Houei Sai, a city on the border of Laos and Myanmar.
Ships could not sail in the section for much of the year in the
past due to rapids, sharp curves and shallow water in the dry
season.
When the project is completed, it will make it possible for ships
below 300 dwt to travel from China to other countries along the
river all year round.
(
Xinhua News
Agency June 7, 2002)