Highway Kunming-Bangkok speeds up agricultural trade

Kuming (CNS) – Yunnan Province has imported agricultural products worth US$220 million from Thailand via the Kunming-Bangkok highway during 2011, representing a year-on-year increase of over 70 percent, according to a source of Kunming Customs.

The highway opened in 2008 and it takes 20 hours to traverse its 1800 kilometers from Kunming of Yunnan Province to Bangkok, Thailand. In February 2011, China and Thailand agreed to use it in the promotion of a fruit trade. It had already become the most convenient transport channel for logistics in the region.

In 2011, via this highway, Yunnan Province imported a large amount of tropical fruit, in fact the equivalent of US$1.65 million, US$0.86 million and US$440,000 in mangosteen, banana and durian respectively, while Yunnan in turn supplied Bangkok with dozens of types of its sterling vegetables.

"For the agricultural product trade, adhering to inspection and quarantine regulations governing animals and plant materials is the first priority," said Vichit Chivimarn, Thailand's Consul General in Kunming.