Ambassador denies China-Myanmar rail project cancelled

YANGON - Along with the speeding up of Myanmar's political and social changes as well as the change of external environment, China-Myanmar relations have also entered a new period of development, maintaining a good trend of such development, Chinese Ambassador Yang Houlan told a press reception here Thursday involving both Chinese and Myanmar media.

Yang said China and Myanmar have established Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Partnership and have also signed an action plan on the implementation of such partnership. The promotion of the two countries' ties not only inherited China-Myanmar traditional paukphaw (fraternal) friendship but also met the need of development in the new era.

Yang said: "we have also seen that at a time when China-Myanmar relations are experiencing more opportunities, there also emerge some challenges."

He noted that as advocators of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the two countries' cooperation in respective sectors has a broad prospects.

Yang cited Myanmar official statistics as saying that China is still Myanmar's biggest source of investment as well as the biggest trading partner.

Asked by Myanmar media "why the Chinese side gives up Kyaukpyu- Kunming railroad project and has no signing of extension of the project with the Myanmar side", Yang denied the abandonment of the project by the Chinese side.

A Myanmar economic official, who did not wish to identify himself, told Xinhua that the Kyaukpyu-Kunming railroad project is not cancelled. "I understand that it needs time to continue coordination."

The Kyaukpyu-Kunming railroad project plays part of the Asian Highway which comprises the Kunming-Ruili section in the Chinese territory and the Muse- Kyaukpyu section in the Myanmar territory.

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