China opens first road-rail transport link to Indian Ocean
2nd September, 2021
Context:
A newly-launched railway line from the Myanmar border to the Chengdu in westernChina, provides China a new road-rail transportation channel to the Indian Ocean.
The China-Myanmar New Passage
The transport corridor involves a sea-road-rail link.
This passage connects the logistics lines of Singapore, Myanmar and China.
It is currently the most convenient land and sea channel linking the Indian Ocean with southwest China,” the one-way journey saves 20 to 22 days”.
China also has plans to develop another port in Kyaukphyu in the Rakhine state, including a proposed railway line from Yunnan directly to the port, but the progress there has been stalled by unrest in Myanmar.
Chinese planners have also looked at the Gwadar port in Pakistan as another key outlet to the Indian Ocean that will bypass the Malacca Straits.
Gwadar is being developed as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to the far western Xinjiang region, but has been slow to take off amid concerns over security.
Plans are underway to develop Chin Shwe Haw as a “border economic cooperation zone” under the Belt and Road Initiative.