China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund provides financial support for preliminary work on Lancang-Mekong Waterway Phase II renovation Project (linked to #33667)

In 2018, the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund was to provide funding for Phase II of the Lancang-Mekong Channel Improvement project (or 澜沧江-湄公河航道二期整治项目). The Lancang-Mekong Channel Renovation Project is part of a grand scheme to allow large ships to freely navigate the Mekong between China and Laos. Under this plan, the Mekong would be converted into a channelized waterway for commercial navigation. The Chinese Government provided financial support for the preliminary work through the "China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund". Covering the 631-kilometer waterway, the project will start from the boundary marker of China-Myanmar 243 and end in Luang Prabang, Laos. The entire line crosses China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. The remediation content includes channel regulation, port construction and Support the construction of the security system. After the implementation of the project, the conditions of the Lancang-Mekong Channel will be significantly improved, transportation costs will be reduced, and navigation safety and environmental protection can be improved ("中交二航院澜沧江-湄公河航道二期整治项目前期工作勘测外业圆满完成"). The extent of the funding for this project is unclear. From 2016 to 2017, the preliminary work was carried out by China CCCC Second Harbor, according to the consensus reached by the governments of China, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. Experts from the four countries carried out the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment on the premise of not impacting the natural and geographical features of the Lancang-Mekong River. The preliminary work also involved relevant parties including NGOs and took into full consideration different parties' views. Up until now, our four countries have had no engineering plan, let alone taken any action to blast rapids. The preliminary work survey was completed on June 10, 2017, and in 2018, the design report was completed. The project as a whole appears to have been in the bidding process when it was abruptly canceled for the Thailand sections of the Mekong River in February 2020 when the Thai Cabinet formally called for cancelation of the Lancang-Mekong Navigation Channel Improvement Project, locally and popularly known as the Mekong “rapids-blasting” project. The project had already been implemented in stretches of the Mekong in China, Myanmar and along the Lao border, up to the Thai border at the Golden Triangle, but funding is unclear. Phase I of the is captured in linked ProjectID#33667.

Additional details

The total transaction amount is unknown. The Lancang-Mekong Channel Renovation Project Phase II is also referred to as the Lancang-Mekong waterway improvement project, the Upper Mekong Navigation Improvement Project, and the Navigation Channel Improvement Project under the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation Programme, Lancang River-Mekong River Phase II Project.. Both Phase I and Phase II of this project have faced controversy. The first stage of the project destroyed 11 major rapids and 10 reefs along the Mekong from China-Burma border to Ban Houayxai in Laos. The project also includes the waterways in China. The second and third stages will involve further canalization of the river. The destruction of rapids, shoals and scattered reefs may have widespread ecological impacts along the entire length of the Mekong. Islets and rapids are sources of food and income for fishermen who rely on the river for their livelihoods. Blasting of the rapids would severely threaten the income and food security of villagers living in the area.

Number of official sources

5

Number of total sources

14