A highway bridge connecting the Hekou Yao Autonomous County in southwest China's Yunnan Province with Lao Cai in Vietnam opened to traffic today.

Construction of the 136-meter-long, 15-meter-wide bridge started in September 1999 and completed in July 2000. The project cost 8.44 million yuan.

The new bridge will alleviate the traffic pressure on the Yunnan-Vietnam railway and promote bilateral economic, trade and tourism development, said a border official in Yunnan.

Hekou is the largest port city bordering Yunnan and Vietnam. Customs in Hekou handled cross-border goods with a total value of 765 million yuan last year, up 54 percent over the previous year.

(Eastday.com 01/08/2001)