Yunnan vegetables sold to Myanmar by border traders

It was at 4:30 on the morning of January 11. The Daluo check point near the China-Myanmar border section in south Yunnan’s Menghai County was bustling, with cross-border vegetable traders sorting and packing up vegetables. 

Then, the packed vegetables were quickly loaded onto the trucks and tricycles waiting nearby, and this was to be followed by a cross-border check up. 

Among the vegetable traders was Yu Kan, a local Dai villager who has been in the cross-border business for five years. "In Myanmar, I can sell my vegetables at a price better than that in China,” said Yu Kan. “More people like buying vegetables there.” 

Harvesting vegetables in her field, Yu Kan said the vegetables grown by herself are not enough, and she buys more varieties to cater for her customers’ needs in Myanmar. Now, cross-border vegetable trade brings her family a monthly income of 6000 yuan.

Yunnan villagers in the border area have been selling vegetables to Myanmar for more than ten years, with around 250 vehicles crossing the border daily. To better serve vegetable farmers, the customs officers at the Daluo check point have opened a green channel from 6:30 to 7:00 am every day.

Reporting by Hu Chao (Xinhua); trans-editing by Wang Shixue