China has opened a new transport corridor from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, to Myanmar, and from there, by extension, to the Indian Ocean and Singapore. In the past, most freight from Singapore to China’s western provinces went eastwards by ship, through the South China Sea, to the ports of Guangxi and Guangdong, and then to the northwest by rail and road [New multimodal China-Myanmar Route Connects Sichuan With The Indian Ocean].
The new corridor takes freight from Singapore westwards by ship, through the Indian Ocean, to the Port of Yangon in Myanmar. From there, the freight goes by road via Mandalay to the border with China at Chin Shwe Haw, and then further by road to the city of Lincang in Yunnan Province. Finally, from there, the freight continues by train to Chengdu, where it may be further distributed in western China.
China claims that the new corridor reduces shipping time by 20 days compared to the old route. The corridor was formally opened for business on August 25, when the first train with goods from Singapore departed from Lincang for Chengdu. There, trains arrive at the Chengdu International Railway Port, a major freight railway terminal that also serves as a station for rail transport to and from Europe
The new transport line between Yangon in Myanmar and Lincang in China is part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), a much larger BRI project that aims to improve connections between China and Myanmar, including pipelines, railways, roads, and ports.
China hopes to have more trade flowing from the Indian Ocean to Yangon and on to China, cutting shipping times and reducing its dependence on the vulnerable Malacca Street. However, the corridor appears to be rather complex, which is, in itself, a vulnerability. Furthermore, the political situation in Myanmar is fragile to say the least, and the road transport runs through the Kokang Self-Administered Zone in Myanmar, part of the semi-independent Shan State, where various armed groups fight each other and the central government. Much can thus go wrong; so how much freight from Singapore and other ports in the Indian Ocean actually reaches Chengdu has yet to be seen.
Tycho de Feijter
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