The southwest province of Yunnan plans to increase its shipping lane length to 4,000km by 2015, reported Xinhua, to promote waterway connections between China and countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia.

The province has invested Rmb630m in the past five years in shipping construction to extend its channel length to 3,109km.

The province has ports on the Yangtze River and tributaries that connect to it as well as to the Pearl River to the east. There are also rivers that provide access to the Indian and Pacific Oceans via connections to the Red River, Mekong River and Irrawaddy River.