In news–Recently, China opened the first sea-road-rail transport link to the Indian Ocean.
About Road-rail transport link
- It provides a new sea-road-rail link to Chengdu (China) with the Indian Ocean via Yangon (Myanmar).
- A “test cargo” through what is being called the China-Myanmar New Passage arrived at the Chengdu rail port in Sichuan province in August.
- This passage connects the logistics lines of Singapore, Myanmar and China, and is currently the most convenient land and sea channel linking the Indian Ocean with southwest China.
- The new railway line that runs from the border town of Lincang to Chengdu, a key trade hub in western China, completes the corridor.
- It saves the journey of around 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.
- Plans are underway to develop Chin Shwe Haw as a “border economic cooperation zone” under the Belt and Road Initiative.
- 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.
Source: The Hindu
