China and Myanmar signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the construction of a China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) on September 9, one of the highlight projects of the Belt and Road Initiative. O n b e h a l f o f t h e r e s p e c t i v e countries, the Director of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, He Lifeng, and the Minister of Planning and Finance of Myanmar, Soe Win, signed the Memorandum of Understanding between China and Myanmar for jointly building the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) on September 9.
The estimated 1,700 kilometers long corridor will connect Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan Province, to Myanmar’s major economic checkpoints-first to Mandalay in central Myanmar and then east to Yangon and west to the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi announced the proposal to build the CMEC after the meeting with State Counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw in November 2017. Wang said the economic corridor would enhance investment in development and trade under Chinese-Myanmar cooperation as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Both parties carried out in-depth consultations and reached broad consensuses on a number of issues. These included the concepts and principles of CMEC cooperation, the working mechanism of the Joint Committee, early harvest projects, cooperative planning, and the implementation of major cooperation projects.
