CHINA: YUNNAN PROVINCE: THE MYANMAR BORDER
Mandarin/Nat
Located just a few kilometres away from the Myanmar border, Ruili City in south western China has seen a boom in cross-border trade over the past years.
Notorious for the drugs and arms that are peddled across a porous frontier, many other commodities such as gems and jade have helped make traders rich.
For the Myanmarese who make the long journey into China, it's a long-hoped for chance to do business away from the shackles of government control.
At first glance, Yunnan Province's Ruili seems like just another sun-soaked small town where the heat calls for a very slow rhythm.
But behind the relaxed atmosphere, traders from across Asia are engaged in a lucrative business.
Filled with stones from nearby Myanmar, Ruili's gem market has becoming increasingly famous over the past few years.
Stands such as these mostly display colourful glass and semi precious stones.
But the real jewels are in the hands of Myanmarese traders such as these who have risked smuggling the gems into China.
Rubies, sapphires and jade are the most popular items.
Bargaining in the alleys of Ruili's gem market, Chinese buyers always manage to get a good price.
For the Myanmar traders, it's a previously unattainable opportunity to sell their gems away from the Myanmar government.
Myanmar has long been famous for its precious stones.
And the government tries to maintain a tight monopoly on the trade.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
They don't allow the people to sell. Burmese government, only they can sell.
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop, Myanmarese jewellery trader
Perhaps the most popular and abundant stone in Ruili is Myanmar's famous jade.
Tucked away in an alley, this shop attracts buyers from as far away as Pakistan.
Business is booming.
And at 23 years-old, the shop's owner manages to rake in some 30-thousand Yuan (around 3,600 U-S dollars) a month - quite a fortune in China.
Myanmarese people are not allowed to buy large quantities of wholesale jade, and even if they could, they wouldn't have the necessary capital.
So, Chinese dealers cross the border and buy the jade themselves.
Back in China, they sell the jade to customers from everywhere -- including Myanmarese traders who then resell the jade themselves in Ruili.
This complicated scheme has enabled many Chinese to make their personal fortune.
SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin)
Yes, it's become richer. It's much better than before. Now, many people have already made a fortune. After the opening up and reform policy, many people here made a fortune. Some people have made a big fortune, some a small fortune.
SUPER CAPTION: Chinese jade trader
Twenty years ago, Ruili did not exist as it does now.
Fields and swamps were all that could be found, and the population was very poor.
But once the border was opened and trade began, buildings popped up everywhere.
Now it's a small city where construction sites abound.
Hopeful businessmen come here from all over China to settle under the town's tropical sun and free-flowing money.
With cross-border trade booming as it is, another lucrative business has been developing.
In a city that seems to escape many Chinese laws, unofficial money exchange is commonplace.
Throughout the rest of China, money is only supposed to be changed in banks.
But while in other cities black market money changers try to remain discreet, in Ruili they have their own floor in an otherwise virtually empty building.
The bulk of change is from Myanmarese Kyat to Chinese Yuan.
A few changers deal in U-S dollars.
Be it dollars, Yuan or Kyat, the numbers are big.
Its close proximity to the Myanmar border has turned Ruili and the surrounding Dehong region into a special autonomous area.
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Live: Exploring a school on China-Myanmar border 探访中缅边境上的银井小学
Border and boundaries may separate people by countries, but they can’t diminish their desire for exchanges. In an elementary school in the southwestern Chinese city of Ruili, which shares a long border with Myanmar, children from both countries study together and receive equal treatment. As the school’s mission goes: education has no borders, and love shortens distances. Join CGTN’s Yang Jinghao to explore this special school near the border.
Myanmar China Trade Fair at Border
တရုတ္ ျမန္မာနယ္စပ္ က်ယ္ေဂါင္ၿမိဳ႕မွာ ကုန္စည္ျပပြဲတခု က်င္းပေနပါတယ္။ ႏွစ္ႏိုင္ငံ ႏွစ္စဥ္-အလွည့္က်က်င္းပတဲ့ ဒီကုန္စည္ျပပြဲအေၾကာင္း RFA ဝုိင္းေတာ္သား ကုိေဂ်က တင္ျပေပးမွာပါ။
RUILI CHINA AT NIGHT
only 7 clicks from South East Asia, this Burma border town this is RUILI CHINA . now you can see what it looks like at night . shot with a sony PC 9 in the South-West China area.
Burmese children cross border daily to study in China
A group of children from Myanmar make the trek across the China-Myanmar border every day so they can study in the city of Ruili in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
Border Patrol With China's Toughest Drug Squad
Drug Frenzy - Part 2 (2013) China's border cops are attempting to prevent a swelling tide of illegal drugs being smuggled into the country. We follow one of the world's toughest police forces tackling the traffickers smuggling drugs across the border.
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Get unprecedented access to China's drug cops at a key checkpoint near the Myanmar/China border where they're in full flight. Pulling over cars and buses targeting suspicious characters and unlikely drug mules alike.
On one tour bus that's just crossed in from what we used to call Burma, the team clambers aboard checking bags, compartments and asking rapid-fire questions. Soon a woman with a young child emerges with the officers. She's carrying a plastic shopping bag containing a handful of condoms filled with Ice -- the super-charged methamphetamine that's infiltrating China's party scene and that's being shipped out to more lucrative international destinations like Australia.
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Journeyman Pictures is your independent source for the world's most powerful films, exploring the burning issues of today. We represent stories from the world's top producers, with brand new content coming in all the time. On our channel you'll find outstanding and controversial journalism covering any global subject you can imagine wanting to know about.
While Burma's Chinese Businesses Thrive, Competition Worries Locals
Burma's political reforms have dominated headlines in the past year, but there is also high anticipation about a series of economic reforms. The measures could mean more opportunities for locals businesses and foreign ones, particularly Burma's longtime trading partner, China. VOA's Daniel Schearf reports from Rangoon, that the Chinese competition worries some businessmen in Burma.
(China) NIght scene of prostitution near Myanmar and China borders
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RUILI CHINA SHOPPING
RUILI CHINA SHOPPING in a small Burma/China border town. this was shoot on a small Sony PC 9
BORDER TOWNS HOPE FOR BETTER TRADE
(22 Jun 2012) LEAD IN
People in border towns in the southwest of China are watching Myanmar's political reforms, hoping they might mean a brighter economic future for them.
But with Myanmar's political future still unstable nothing is certain.
STORYLINE
Money changes hands rapidly in this market in the southwestern corner of China, a sign of the booming times.
The border between Myanmar and the Chinese province of Yunnan has witnessed an increased in wealth over decades of trade - both legal and illegal.
Timber, jade and drugs are just some of the goods which pass over the border.
Now, China's main trading gateway to its long-isolated neighbour Myanmar is hoping for a new boom.
Cars and trucks with black Myanmar plates trickle across the border checkpoint, hauling televisions and computers, construction materials and household goods for which there are in fact only few buyers.
Along the river, lush golf courses and luxury villas show there are gold-rush expectations.
A sprawling 16 billion yuan (2.5 billion US dollar), five-star resort is rising above the city, the showcase of one local tycoon.
In fields along a still-uncompleted motorway stand stacks of big black pipes for a 770 kilometre (480 mile) pipeline to carry Middle East gas and oil shipped through the Indian Ocean from Myanmar to thirsty Chinese industries far to the east.
South East Asia political researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing, Professor Du Jifeng, says the opening of Myanmar could be both good and bad for China.
The economic opening of Myanmar, for China, is an opportunity as well as a challenge. With the gradual opening, Myanmar will provide a better environment for investment. It will create more opportunities for Chinese companies. In terms of the challenges, we will have to see if Chinese companies are able to adapt themselves to the new circumstances. See if they can compete with the western companies, if they have advantages. This is going to bring a big challenge.
But in the border town of Ruili, the gem and jewelry markets and electronics and household goods stalls are almost deserted.
Jade vendor Huang Shishou says business is very slow.
Business? There is no business. In the last times the prices have dropped around a 40 percent or so. Before we would sell a stone for around 10,000 yuan (1570 US dollars) and now we are happy to sell it for just 5,000 to 6,000 yuan (785 - 942 US dollars). There's no people buying now.
The economic depression stretching from crisis-stricken Europe all the way to the remotest corners of China is partly to blame.
Fierce fighting between Myanmar forces and the Kachin ethnic minority in the north of the country, which was known as Burma until 1989, is also putting a damper on their border trade.
The robust trade with China that brought wealth to Ruili is also bringing a backlash.
As Myanmar's government reaches out to foreign investors, and tentatively opens its markets, it is also reassessing ties with the Chinese, who for years provided succour to Myanmar's reviled generals while amassing ever greater economic influence, as Du Jifeng explains.
Before, when Myanmar and Western countries were not in good terms, China was a donor country for Myanmar. But when some projects lead by China confronted environmental or forced relocation problems, and they were not dealt according to international standards, the ordinary Burmese people showed a great dissatisfaction.
The tensions became evident last year in Myanmar's decision to cancel the Myitsone hydropower dam on the Irrawaddy River, which the project's contractor, China Power International Corp., is lobbying to have resurrected.
Du Jifeng says it has hit trade between the countries.
He says business is not good.
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Border gate between Myanmar (Chinshwehaw) and China
Will be upgraded as international level border within 2-3 years, according to government information.
China's Border Police Capture 3.1-million-yuan Smuggled Marten Furs and Electronic Products
South China's Shenzhen border policemen recently captured a smuggling speedboat loaded with 5,920 marten furs and over 800 electronic products worth 3.1 million yuan (499,410 U.S. dollars).
The police strengthened patrol along the seaside after receiving a tip-off, and found the speedboat a few days later.
The speedboat, seeing the police vessel approaching, fled and hid in a neighboring port. The smugglers then ran away, leaving the products in the boat.
Further investigation is underway, and the police are hunting for the smugglers.
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7 out of 10 motorbikes in Myanmar made by one Chinese company
At China's border city of Ruili, test drivers are nearing the completion of their motorcycle production. These motorbikes will soon be taken to a nearby border pass for sale in Myanmar.
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China is erasing its border with Hong Kong
The border has an expiration date.
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With original music by Tom Fox
When Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, Chinese leaders agreed that Hong Kong would be able to keep its economic and political systems, including some of the civil freedoms denied to China’s citizens on the mainland, for the next 50 years.
Although Hong Kong still has nearly 30 years of semi-autonomy left, China has started tightening its grip, and many believe it is chipping away at Hong Kong’s freedoms. In this episode, I explore how Hong Kong is dealing with the looming deadline and China’s premature moves.
Vox Borders is an international documentary series by Emmy-nominated producer Johnny Harris exploring life at the edge of nations. For more, visit vox.com/borders.
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BRI Stimulates Crab Industry Boom in Border City of Southwest China
Under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an aquatic product trading market with one-stop services, promoting import and export trade of crabs from the Indian Ocean was established in Ruili, a city bordering Myanmar in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
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Ruili Jiegao JADE market.
CHINA: GROWING PROBLEM OF PROSTITUTION
Mandarin/Eng/Nat
As the People's Republic of China prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding, its leaders have vowed to implement measures that will clean up its image.
Conscious that the world's eyes will descend on the country on October 1, the Chinese Communist Party has sought to crack down on all criminal activities.
One target is the growing problem of prostitution in the country.
It may be the world's oldest profession, but it's also become China's most serious and widespread social problem.
Located just seven kilometres from the border with Myanmar, the sleepy town of Ruili in the south-western Yunnan Province has long been famous for its cross-border trade.
Enjoying a tropical climate, Ruili's atmosphere is laid-back and playful.
But as the sun sets over palm trees, Ruili's new and more notorious claim to fame - prostitution - practically takes over the entire city.
Karaoke bars filled with obliging hostesses may be the most prevalent form of night life throughout China.
But nowhere is the sex trade as overt and obvious as in Ruili.
They look like everyday girls wearing clothes that don't necessarily betray their profession.
But the division is clear - the girls in Ruili's karaoke bars are prostitutes and the men are their clients.
Little singing is done, but an occasional slow dance provides an interruption from the usual heavy drinking.
As in many countries throughout the world, prostitution is illegal in China.
So massage parlours provide another convenient front for the illicit sex trade.
According to a report by the official Xinhua news agency, one in five massage parlours across China are involved in prostitution, with the proportion even higher in larger cities.
But a walk through Ruili's streets at night belies this ratio.
Even if some clients do come for an earnest head massage, it's very hard to see a massage parlour which does not provide a showcase for prostitutes.
While Public Security Ministry officials are cracking down on the sex trade throughout the country, Ruili seems beyond the reach of the law.
Remote as it is, Ruili still manages to attract traders from all over China and other Asian countries.
They come for the fine Myanmar jade, rubies and other precious stones available here.
But local businessmen believe that if the authorities turn a blind eye to prostitution, it is in order to entice people to ignore the long journey needed to reach their town.
SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin)
To attract people from other places to come here. People come from everywhere, from other countries. Also to attract people from inside China to come to this remote area.
SUPER CAPTION: Name not given, 23 year-old Chinese jade trader
China's reforms may have brought prosperity to a lucky few.
But unemployment and bleak job prospects have forced the desperate to take on illegal work.
In fact most of the prostitutes here aren't born locally.
Many of the girls who come to Ruili from other parts of China are attracted by the bright lights and what to them is a luxurious lifestyle.
But it is also often the only way for them to make a living.
Supply makes no sense without demand.
And in a town where men spend long periods on the road away from their families, demand is high.
So prostitutes sometimes also cook meals for their clients in an effort to provide a home away from home.
As people go further and further to look for business opportunities and income, China's population is becoming increasingly mobile.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: Edwin Joseph Judd, UNICEF Area Representative for China and Mongolia
Some are enticed by promises of regular work.
SOUNDBITE: (Myanmar)
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Border Town Impression: Tachileik
This is a very brief visit to the Burmese border town of Thakhilek (Tachileik in Burmese). Nothing much of local life but a overkill of Chinese replicas and fake DVD's!!!
Music by freeplaymusic.com
Trip to Myanmar/Yunnan border