A highway linking China's southwest border province of Yunnan with the neighboring country of Myanmar will be upgraded soon, so as to further boost exchanges between China and the southeast Asia, local government sources said.

An agreement for renovating the highway which extends south from the Zhangfeng Town of Longchuan County, Yunnan, to Bhamo, a port in northern Myanmar, has been signed at Rangoon, Myanmar's capital, recently by the Longchuan government and the Ministry of Construction of Myanmar, the Longchuan government said.

According to the agreement, the Longchuan government will invest 28 million yuan (US$3.38 million) for the rebuilding of the 79-kilometer highway, expected to open for traffic again at the end of 2006.

Zhangfeng Town is the nearest port in the southwest China to Myanmar, only 94 kilometers away from Myanmar's Bhamo. It has become an important trading center with Southeast and South Asia.

The current Zhangfeng-Bhamo highway has brought influences on the business activities between Yunnan and Myanmar, but it has limited transportation capacity.

(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2004)