Yunnan is a distinctive concourse of various communities with a shared future
Yunnan, a province in Southwest China, shares borders and cultural affinity with Southeast Asia, and ancient trade routes such as the ancient Southern Silk Road and the Tea Horse Road have facilitated economic and cultural exchanges between Yunnan and these regions. Yunnan has been a well-deserved regional trade and cultural center between China and the Indochina Peninsula. Since the 1980s, Yunnan has been at the forefront of China's opening-up. In 1992, Yunnan participated in the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation (GMS), taking advantage of its geographical location to initiate China's involvement in the regional integration processes of Southeast Asia. Since the 21st century, the scope of Yunnan's openness has expanded from South and Southeast Asia to the Pacific and Indian Ocean, as well as the Middle East and Africa, making it one of the most international provinces in China.
With its increasingly prominent role as a hub linking South and Southeast Asia, Yunnan serves as the overlapping intersection in the process of community building on various levels; for example, the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, the Asia-Pacific community with a shared future, and the China-ASEAN community with a shared future, as well as the China-Cambodia, China-Laos, China-Myanmar, China-Thailand, and China-Vietnam bilateral communities with a shared future. Based on its abundant biodiversity resources, Yunnan is also becoming the gateway for China's initiatives to promote a community with a shared future for all life on earth.
