China's thriving border villages radiate prosperity to northern Myanmar

In the tranquil and fertile border villages along the Yunnan-Myanmar border in Lincang, a border region in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, which is the frontier of Yunnan's exchanges and cooperation with Myanmar, a picturesque scene unfolds. Walking through the village, one is greeted by traditional wooden houses, their intricate carvings and colorful decorations reflecting the rich cultural heritage of the local ethnic groups. The aroma of freshly brewed tea wafts from the tea houses, inviting visitors to savor a cup of the region's renowned Pu'er tea.

The vitality and tranquility of the border villages make it hard to imagine the serious telecommunications fraud and recent armed conflict on the other side of the border in northern Myanmar. With the Chinese government's improved governance in the border areas and greater investment in improving people's livelihoods, the border villages between China and Myanmar have made significant achievements in border trade, tourism, river and lake management, and the ecosystem. This thriving development has also radiated and driven the wellbeing of the people in northern Myanmar. The joint efforts of the governments of China and Myanmar in combating cross-border telecommunications crime have maintained peace and prosperity in the border areas.

Guarding the border

In the Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County on the China-Myanmar border, a gentle river meanders through the village, with its crystal-clear waters reflecting the surrounding beauty.

Starting from June 2019, Lincang took the lead in initiating the construction of well-off border villages. Today, along the more than 290 kilometers of border line in Lincang, 241 villages are like a string of beautiful pearls, lighting the southwestern border of China. It is also one of the border areas that President Xi Jinping has been most concerned about.

Xi encouraged veteran Party chiefs from border villages in Yunnan to play exemplary roles in leading villagers to build a beautiful home, maintain ethnic unity and safeguard the territory in a letter replying to 10 veteran Party chiefs from nine border villages of the Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County on August 19, 2021.

Xi said he was very glad to hear the country's poverty-relief drive had brought about profound changes for locals, and said he could feel the Wa people's faith and trust in the Party and the country.

In his letter, Xi said that eliminating poverty is a vital step toward better lives for the people, and he called for continued efforts to vitalize rural areas, boost development in border regions to benefit the people living there, pursue the common prosperity of all ethnic groups, and promote prosperity and stability in border areas.

Cangyuan, the county with the largest ethnic Wa population, has made remarkable progress in improving people's well-being since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012. Locals now have better access to safe housing, drinking water, medical services and schooling.

By the end of 2019, all 40,000-plus impoverished people from the county's 67 poverty-stricken villages had shaken off poverty.

The scene now is a region blessed with an expanse of lush greenery. The air is crisp and fragrant, carrying the scent of damp earth and the sweet aroma of wildflowers. Villagers told the Global Times that local people have a common awareness that "ecological areas should be protected like our eyes."

The Nanlun River National Nature Reserve, located in the middle section of the China-Myanmar border, has a forest coverage rate of up to 93.8 percent. Thanks to great efforts in habitat restoration and wildlife conservation in the reserve in recent years, previously endangered species such as binturong and the Chinese Serow can be found there. Calves of three Asian elephants have been monitored for four consecutive years, and multiple new plant species have been discovered in the past year, demonstrating significant achievements in biodiversity conservation.

Create a better border environment

The newly built Guomen New Village, Cangyuan, which was started in October 2019, is a village with Wa ethnic characteristics, built on the mountainside in an orderly manner. In the refreshing and exquisite farmhouse courtyards, vegetables are lush and green, attracting many tourists to experience the unique charm of ethnic minorities and border villages. Today, the village has become a beautiful business card for Yonghe Port on the China-Myanmar border.

In the Wa cultural square, the slogan "Observing Two Countries in One Village" is very eye-catching. It enables tourists to feel the exotic atmosphere of Myanmar's Wa State across the border.

The village chief of Guomen New Village, Bao Aibao, told the Global Times that the Wa ethnic group in China and Myanmar share the same ancestry, language and customs, and have a friendly relationship. In recent years, many favorable measures in the village have driven the economic development of some neighboring towns in northern Myanmar.

"The new village has also planned to build a commercial and logistics special area and a border trade market. A centralized market can lower transportation costs and make business more convenient," he said. Bao used to do business on the China-Myanmar border, transporting agricultural products such as konjac, coix seed, black fungus, and soybeans for domestic sales, making an annual income of up to 100,000 yuan ($13,667).

With the joint efforts of the Chinese government and the Wa State government to combat rampant cross-border telecommunications fraud, more tourists now have confidence in visiting the villages along the China-Myanmar border, Bao said. Joint operations have been conducted by the law enforcement departments of China and Myanmar to successfully crack down on telecom fraud dens entrenched in northern Myanmar.

He also emphasized that the recent armed conflict in northern Myanmar has had no impact on their village, and they have not heard any gunshots or sounds of fighting. This is partly because the Wa State across the border is not the main area of the conflict.

In addition, Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County has also made great efforts in recent years to plan and construct urban and rural water supply systems and consolidate the construction of water conservancy infrastructure in border areas in order to provide stable and clean water sources for both Chinese and Myanmar residents through cross-basin infrastructure, benefiting downstream residents in Myanmar.

The fieldtrip the Global Times joined to the border area is part of the second Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Joint Media Tour, attracting the participation of nearly 10 domestic and foreign media journalists.

The event was guided by the Department of International Cooperation, Science and Technology of the Ministry of Water Resources of China, and co-organized by the Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Center, the Changjiang Water Resources Commission, China Huaneng Group, the Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan Province, the Yunnan Provincial Water Resources Department, the Dali Prefecture Water Affairs Bureau, the Lincang City Water Affairs Bureau, and the Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County Water Affairs Bureau.