China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) is a number of infrastructure projects supporting connectivity between

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is an economic corridor of the

Belt and Road Initiative The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), known in China as the One Belt One Road and sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the government of China in 2013 to invest in more t ...

Transportation

The infrastructure development plan calls for building road and rail transportation from

Yunnan Province Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

in China through Muse and

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

to the seaport city,

Kyaukpyu Kyaukphyu ( ; also spelt Kyaukpyu) is a major town in Rakhine State, in western Myanmar and it is informally addressed to be the second capital of Rakhine State.It is located on the north western corner of Yanbye Island on Combermere Bay, and is ...

Rakhine State Rakhine State ( ; , ; ), formerly known as Arakan State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Re ...

. The transportation route follows gas and oil pipelines built in 2013 and 2017. At the end of the route, a port and

Special Economic Zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

is planned at Khaukphyu. The largest construction project along the route is the Muse-Mandalay Railway, a project estimated to cost US$9 billion. The newly built railway would connect to the Chinese railway network at

Ruili Ruili ( zh, s=瑞丽 , t=瑞麗 , p=Ruìlì; ; ; ; ), called Möng Mao in Tai, is a county-level city of Dehong Prefecture, in the west of Yunnan province, China. It is a major border crossing between China and Myanmar, with the town of Muse loc ...

Yunnan province Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

Core zones

An important part of the corridor will be three core zones at the border of both countries. The core zones will be commercial areas with duty-free concessions, hotels, manufacturing, and financial services. According to a policy plan in 2019 by the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce, the locations for the core zones would be

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

and Chinshwehaw in the northern part of

Shan State Shan State (, ; , ) is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos (Louang Namtha Province, Louang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces) to the east, and Thailand (Chiang Rai Province, Chia ...

and Kan Pite Tee in

Kachin State Kachin State (; Jingpho language, Kachin: ) is the northernmost administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet and Yunnan, respectively), Shan State to the sou ...

References

China–Myanmar relations Belt and Road Initiative {{Myanmar-stub