¡¡¡¡KUNMING, April 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Simao Port, on the lower reaches of the Lancang River in Yunnan province, has been playing a vital role in forging ties between southwest China and nations along the Lancang-Mekong River since it was designated as a top-grade open port by the state council in 1993.

¡¡¡¡Built in 1990, Simao is China's first international port along the Lancang River, which is named the Mekong river when it enters into Laos, and flows through Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam into the South China Sea.

¡¡¡¡According to customs statistics, the volume of freight transport at the port rose to 12,600 tons in 2002, 8.3 times more than the previous year's figure.

¡¡¡¡The port opened to foreign ships in April 2001, and has four wharves, which are capable of handling 300,000 tons of cargoes and100,000 passenger arrivals a year.

¡¡¡¡Since Lancang-Mekong sub-regional economic cooperation was initiated, six shipping companies, with 44 vessels, have registered at the port, shipping tea and non-staple food from China to Thailand and Laos and bringing back to China fresh fruit and other tropical products from Thailand and Laos.

¡¡¡¡He Daming, director of the Asia International River Center attached to Yunnan University, said the development of the Lancang-Mekong river not only spurs navigation along the river, but also promotes the exchanges of personnel, commodities, technology and information between southwest China and ASIAN countries.

¡¡¡¡Bai Enpei, secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said during a visit to Simao late last year that the port should take the opportunity of building the China-Southeast Asian Association Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade Zone to turn the Lancang-Mekong River into a bridge for trade and economic cooperation between southwest China and ASEAN countries. Enditem