China's Guizhou increasingly connected to Southeast Asia via toll roads and trains

JAKARTA - The toll road and train network makes Guizhou, a province in southwest China, closer to Yunnan, Laos, and Southeast Asia. The impact is not only felt in major logistics routes, but also reaches fruit stalls, strawberry greenhouses, industrial areas, and tourist attractions.

China Daily, quoted Thursday, July 9, wrote that the change was visible in Liuzhi, an area under Liupanshui City. This mountainous area is now not only relying on local results, but is also connected to cross-country goods flows.

Chen Min, a 45-year-old fruit trader in Liuzhi, felt the change firsthand. He sells local plums, peaches, and watermelons. However, his stall also sells bananas, mangoes, and dragon fruit from Kunming, Yunnan Province.

Some tropical fruits even come from Laos. The fruits enter Yunnan via the China-Laos Railway, then move to markets in Guizhou.

"I often buy bananas, mangoes, and dragon fruit wholesale from traders who come from Kunming," said Chen. "Some tropical fruits are from Laos, which are sent to Yunnan via the China-Laos Railway."

The China-Laos Railway, which is 1,035 kilometers long, connects Kunming South Station with Vientiane South Station in Laos. The line, which has been operating since December 2021, has transported more than 3,800 types of goods, in addition to passengers.

For small traders like Chen, the increasingly connected lines are not big words on paper. Fruit can come faster, there are more choices of goods, and the cost of transportation has the potential to fall. From the fruit business, Chen can earn more than 100,000 yuan or about 14,730 US dollars per year.

The next hope comes from the expansion of the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, especially the Anshun-Panzhou section that crosses Liuzhi. This toll road is an important route connecting western Guizhou with Yunnan and Southeast Asia.

"With the new Anshun-Panzhou section, which will start operating later this year, alongside the existing toll road, the fruits of Laos and Kunming will arrive faster, while transportation costs go down," said Chen.

The 2,730-kilometer Shanghai-Kunming Expressway has been fully connected since September 8, 2011. However, the four-lane section in Guizhou has become crowded as the economy grows. The Guizhou government then expanded the Anshun-Panzhou section since 2022 to reduce congestion and support the region's economy.

Li Shifu, Secretary of the Party of the APFJ-3 Division of China Railway No. 4 Engineering Group, said the Anshun-Panzhou toll road project was funded by the Guizhou Transportation Investment Group. The value is around 32.311 billion yuan. Of the project, 97 kilometers are in Liupanshui.

China is also continuing to expand its road investment. The Ministry of Transportation said that road construction investment during the first five months of this year reached around 779.7 billion yuan. Experts estimate that China's highways transported 21.2 billion tons of goods in the first half and served 23 billion passenger trips.

The impact has spread to agriculture. Liuzhi is inhabited by about 750,300 residents from 32 ethnic groups. In 2025, the region recorded a gross regional domestic product or GDP of 19.387 billion yuan, up 6 percent year-on-year. GDP is a measure of the value of a region's economy.

The head of the Liuzhi Government, Yao Hong, targets the local GDP to grow by 6.5 percent in 2026. He said that the modernization of mountain agriculture was accelerated through the development of typical products.

In Mugang City, Wei Mingxiang leads a strawberry and vegetable cultivation cooperative. The cooperative has 96 greenhouses on land of about six hectares and can produce more than 1,500 kilograms of "Chocolate" brand strawberries per 600 square meters from November to early April.

"During holidays and weekends, people from Anshun and Guiyang drive to our greenhouses to pick strawberries," said Wei.

He hopes the new Anshun-Panzhou toll road will bring in more visitors. On busy days, he employs dozens of local farmers to help.

China Daily also noted that the impact of the transportation line extended to the Liuzhi industry and tourism. The region has more than 20 types of mineral resources, including coal, iron, sulfur, and limestone. Proven coal reserves reach 3.3 billion tons, while coal methane gas reserves are around 65 billion cubic meters.

Yao said Liuzhi targets more than 30 billion yuan from the coal chemical industry, more than 30 billion yuan from the new energy battery and material base, and more than 5 billion yuan from fluorochemicals by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan period 2026-2030.

Liuzhi coal production last year rose 34.85 percent compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period 2016-2020. By 2030, Liuzhi's total economic output is expected to reach 28 billion yuan, with an average annual growth of 6 percent.

The tourism sector is also included in the count. Liuzhi has more than 40 rivers and streams, mountains, ethnic customs, and traces of the ancient Yelang Kingdom from the Warring States Period 475-221 BC.

In 2021-2025, the Liuzhi tourism sector received 49 million tourists and generated revenue of 70.617 billion yuan. With the operation of the Anshun-Panzhou highway, the local government targets tourism consumption to increase by 5 percent annually.

Yin Shigang, Secretary of the CREC4 Project Department of the Party, said that the construction of the toll road still pays attention to the environment because Liuzhi has mountains as well as many rivers and streams.

"During construction work, we try to maintain the original natural contour as much as possible, minimizing the impact of development on the environment," said Yin.

The Anshun-Panzhou route is expected to start operating later this year. For Liuzhi, the new line will speed up the flow of fruit from Laos and Kunming, as well as bring more tourists to the mountainous area.