Myanmar media hail Chinese provincial delegation visit

The official newspaper New Light of Myanmar hailed on Sunday the just-ended goodwill visit of an economic and trade delegation of Yunnan Province of China, saying that the business cooperation meeting held during the visit will contribute to further bilateral cooperation.

The Myanmar and China (Yunnan) Trade and Investment Cooperation Meeting held in Yangon and discussions by entrepreneurs of the two countries will also serve as a giant step forward for trans-border normal trade, said the paper in its editorial.

Noting that Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar, has more trade relations with the country than any other province of China, the editorial said the relations between the entrepreneurs of the two sides are improving.

The editorial stressed that the Myanmar government is now organizing meetings for national entrepreneurs to cultivate a good habit of running normal trade so as to further practice the normal trade.

"In future, the route of trans-border trade will be extended to the third country through the common border, so it is needed to effectively exercise normal trade to achieve the goal," the editorial said.

Noting that Myanmar and China, which have a fine tradition of maintaining bilateral friendship from time immemorial, the editorial added that the bilateral trade relations will fortify the cooperation between the two countries since the two countries are dealing with each other extensively in various sectors.

A 350-member strong Chinese provincial delegation, led by Governor of Yunnan Province Qin Guangrong, visited Myanmar this week and co-hosted with the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce a trade and investment promotion meeting in Yangon which was co-organized by the Department of Commerce of Yunnan Province and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI).

At the meeting, attended by a total of over 600 businessmen from over 400 companies from both sides, Yunnan Province of China and Myanmar signed seven trade accords which include a memorandum of understanding on the integrated agriculture demonstration farm, an agreement on exploration and excavation of iron core, two mineral cooperating development agreements in Nan Mu Do and Indawgyi areas in Myanmar, a minutes of intentional cooperation agreements on collaboration in transboundary animal disease control, a 20,000-ton steel products export contract and a 60,000- ton chemical fertilizer export contract.

According to Chinese official statistics, China-Myanmar bilateral trade hit 1.46 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, up 20.7 percent from 2005. Of the total, China's exports to Myanmar took 1. 207 billion dollars, up 29.2 percent, while its import from Myanmar stood at 252 million dollars, down 7.9 percent. China enjoyed a trade surplus of 955 million dollars during the year.

Among them, trade between Yunnan Province and Myanmar amounted to 692.08 million dollars during the year, up 9.6 percent from the previous year. Of the total, Yunnan's exports to Myanmar represented 521 million dollars, while its imports from Myanmar was valued at 171 million dollars, the figures show.

Source: Xinhua