China-Myanmar border information: The banana garden watcher suffering from the war

The state before the war was very lively. More than a dozen hotels of various sizes and grades were always in full state, gathering merchants from all over China. Banana carts can sometimes be sent from the country gate to the street, nearly 1 km. “But the changes that the state has set for the past two years have been fewer and fewer people.”

Nabang Town is located in the west of Yingjiang County, Yunnan Province. It is a trade and tourism town on the border of China and Burma. The mutual market street where the town government is located is just across the river from the city of Lashio, the second district of Kachin State in Myanmar. On the 8th, the reporter saw a lot of banana farmers who were helpless.

Due to the special geographical environment, many businessmen have taken a look at the business opportunities in Nabang Town. Five years ago, Zhao Weixin came from Fujian to this lively border town to engage in the cultivation of bananas outside China. This is part of China's efforts to develop alternative cultivation of poppy abroad.

Zhao Weixin told reporters that the profits of growing bananas in Myanmar are much higher than those of domestic ones. The investment of one million yuan (RMB) can have a return of three to four million yuan. High profits have attracted many investors from all over China. Zhao Weixin is a businessman, but he prefers to call himself a banana farmer. He connects his own destiny with the land where bananas are grown.

"When the market is good, 1 kg of bananas will cost 6.2 yuan, and each banana can sell more than 200,000 yuan."

In 2010, the Myanmar government announced the closure of the banana plantation. Starting in June 2011, the armed conflict between the Myanmar government and the Kachin independence forces kept the Chinese banana farmers from stagnating again. Yu Zhuohuo originally thought that there would be millions of bananas planted in return.

Zhao Weixin invested tens of millions of 3,000 mu of bananas in Myanmar and is located in the main battle zone between the Burmese and Kachin armed conflicts. He said: "The war in Myanmar has affected the cultivation of bananas. Coupled with the sluggish banana market in recent years, it has become worse and worse."

On the evening of December 30, 2012, an armed conflict broke out between the Burmese government forces and the Kachin Independence Army, and three shells fell into Chinese territory. The exchange of fire between the Burmese government forces and the Kachin Independence Army did not begin today. As soon as the multinational nation led the Aung San Suu Kyi’s father to lead the Burmese people out of Britain, states had wanted to be independent. In 1948, the Union of Burma was born and Kachin State became an autonomous region. In 1962, due to the abolition of the constitution by General Newin, the head of the military, the Kachin Independence Army and the Kachin Independence Organization controlled Kachin State. In 1994, Kachin and the Myanmar government signed a peace agreement that allowed the Kachin Independence Organization to control Kachin State. However, due to some interest issues, the Kachin State is not satisfied and the Myanmar government cannot relax its jurisdictional rights. Therefore, the political situation in Kachin State has been unstable. The armed conflict between the government forces and the Kachin Independence Army at the end of 2012 was only one of many conflicts in the past two years or so.

The renewed escalation of the fighting in Burma caused many investors to make a decision to evacuate all the workers in the banana plantation. Now, many banana groves in Laguna City have turned into unattended banana forests.

Yu Zhuo-huo said: "I was burnt to a car in the banana garden some time ago. Generators, diesel and other materials were ransacked and bananas were rotted in the ground. The loss amounted to 3.5 million yuan." The phone flipped the photo and showed it to reporters. "It's so beautiful. It looks more and more heartbreaking."

Yu Zhuo-huo said: "Almost all banana farmers have borrowed money, or mortgage real estate loans, or borrowed from relatives and friends, and some even borrow loan sharks, which really do not know what to do."

With regard to future plans, Yu Zhuo-huo said: “Only by doing odd jobs first in that state, we can barely support our families and lay our hopes on the banana fields. If the war stops, we may be able to make a comeback.”

A person who has been engaged in Sino-Burmese trade for a long time said that not only bananas, but also other investments in Burma face similar problems due to the Burmese situation. (Finish)

Next:Shanxi Aniline Leakage Continued: Basic Qualification of Water Quality Testing in Yanyuecheng Reservoir
Previous: Chengdu Shuangliu Airport suffered heavy fog for three consecutive days