China is looking to revive the ancient "Southern Silk Road" with South Asia through the economic corridor linking Bangladesh, China, India, and Myanmar (BCIM), a topic that figured prominently during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's recent India visit.
As it opened its first South Asia Expo currently being held in Kunming, provincial capital of Yunnan, China wants it to be the "bridge head" with India and South Asia, Chinese officials said.
China is ready for the revival of the "Southern Silk Road" and plans are under discussion, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Yang Ye, a researcher with the Development Research Centre of Yunnan provincial government, as saying.
Chinese scholars say the ancient silk route, originating from China's Chengdu city wandered through Myanmar and then extended to India, Bangladesh and even the Middle East.
Besides the 16 existing international transport lines linking Yunnan and some Great Mekong Sub-regional countries, seven trunk roads originating from Yunnan extending to neighbouring nations and provinces have been promoted as high-grade highways, the report said.
These include China-Vietnam Highway, China-Laos-Thailand Highway, China-Myanmar Highway, and a domestic section of China-India Highway.
With joint efforts by China, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, a highway route starting from Yunnan to India by way of Myanmar have been approved by relevant departments of the four countries, Yang said.
Experts from the four countries launched a field inspection along the route in February 2012.
The first auto race along the 2,800-km route was successfully held from late February to early March this year.
The BCIM economic corridor figured prominently in Li's last month's talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The joint statement issued at the end of his visit said "encouraged by the successful BCIM Car Rally of February 2013 between Kolkata and Kunming, the two sides agreed to consult the other parties with a view to establishing a Joint Study Group on strengthening connectivity in the BCIM region for closer economic, trade, and people-to-people linkages and to initiating the development of a BCIM Economic Corridor".
Though the route of the new "Southern Silk Road" has yet to be determined, the success of the race across the four countries indicated that it is possible to build a transport passage along the route, Yang said.
The route is expected to serve as an inland bridge linking South Asian countries and central, eastern coastal areas of China, so as to promote the development of western regions of China and boost the common prosperity of the nations along the route, he said.
An Indian delegation of 130 businessmen took part in the Expo.
