Transnational Passenger Transport Routes Launched

Transnational Passenger Transport Routes Launched

Vietnam, on April 27, launched transnational passenger transport routes running from Ha Long city in the northern province of Quang Ninh province to the two cities of Beihai and Nanning in China's Guangxi province, paving the way for closer transport, tourism and trade relations between the two localities in particular and the two countries in general.

"The new routes will make a contribution to the further development of the transport,tourism and trade sectors of Quang Ninh and Guangxi, and of Vietnam and China at large," Nguyen Minh Bach, Director of the Quang Ninh Transport Department, said at the inauguration ceremony.

Huang Huakuan, Director of Guangxi's Communications Department echoed Bach's statement, adding that the new routes will help step up exchanges and cooperation among many countries. Favourable conditions in Guangxi and Quang Ninh contribute to the expansion and deepening of economic and trade ties between the Chinese province and Southeast Asian countries, since Vietnam is the main entrance to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he noted.

The routes take passengers eight hours to travel from Ha Long, the home to the World Heritage-listed Ha Long Bay, to Nanning (Guangxi's capital) and Beihai (the closest port city in China to Southeast Asia, West Asia and Europe). Both Vietnamese and Chinese officials strongly believed that after the launch of the two new tourism lines, the number of Chinese visitors to Ha Long Bay, recognised as a Natural World Heritage site in 1995 and a Geological World Heritage site in 2000 by the UNESCO, will increase considerably.

• Dong Phong