With the rapid economic development in Southeast Asia, it has become a common practice for China cities to dock with Southeast Asia southward. Facing the vast Southeast Asian market, everyone wants to seize the opportunity.

As the neighboring Southeast Asia of China, Guangxi and Yunnan have unique geographical advantages, which also creates opportunities for the two provinces to connect with Southeast Asia.

For a long time, Guangxi and Yunnan have been competing to connect Southeast Asia. From the "China-ASEAN Expo" in Nanning, Guangxi to the "South Expo" in Kunming, Yunnan, both cities are vigorously connecting with Southeast Asia.

But in recent years, Guangxi has taken the lead in docking Southeast Asia. However, with the improvement and construction of the Trans-Asian Railway, Yunnan is expected to catch up with Guangxi, and Kunming has great potential along the Trans-Asian Railway. However, Guangxi is not to be outdone, and puts the docking of Southeast Asia in the first place in economic development.

Under the guidance of the Belt and Road Initiative, who is the center connecting Kunming and Nanning to Southeast Asia?

Guangxi and Yunnan are not the only neighboring provinces that want to embrace Southeast Asia. Inland provinces and cities such as Sichuan, Guizhou and Chongqing are sparing no effort to enter Southeast Asia. In particular, Sichuan is very enthusiastic about going south. In recent years, Sichuan has been emphasizing Yibin, the core purpose of which is to open the south passage of Sichuan and Chongqing. In the era of the rise of Chengdu-Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle, Sichuan is also striving to make its connection with Southeast Asia to the south "the main direction of economic development of Chengdu-Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle".

At present, the instability of the world economy is rising, the economies of European and American countries are stagnant, and even some European and American countries have experienced economic retrogression. Southeast Asia has a population of 600 million and its population structure is very young. Because of the low labor cost, gold diggers keep pouring into Southeast Asia, and the vast market in Southeast Asia is bringing us new opportunities. As we all know, economic activity is not an isolated and closed activity system, but a cyclical process. Even under the economic development led by internal circulation, opening up is still the main theme.

Inland provinces and cities are very keen to connect with Southeast Asia, but they do not have the geographical advantages brought by neighboring countries. If they want to integrate into Southeast Asia, they must attack Guangxi and Yunnan provinces. The construction of the new land-sea passage and the Trans-Asian Railway (Cheng Kun double-track connecting Sichuan) is bringing more opportunities to Guangxi and Yunnan, and Kunnan is also becoming the resource intersection of inland south. Naturally, whoever can become the central city connecting Southeast Asia will become the new center of neighboring areas.

Compared with Kunming, the advantage of Nanning lies in the advantages of neighboring countries, and it can give full play to the functions of the capital and mobilize the advantages of coastal ports. Backed by the southwest, close to Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, in front of Hainan Free Trade Port and in the west of Southeast Asia, Guangxi is an economy with unlimited potential. Guangxi is in the "geometric center" of these potential stocks, and its location advantage is its greatest advantage.

For Kunming and Yunnan as a whole, Yunnan's overall foreign economic development conditions are far less than those of Guangxi.

With its superior geographical position, Nanning has occupied a leading position from the beginning, as evidenced by the great success of the China-ASEAN Expo. The holding of several China-ASEAN Expositions has provided the necessary preconditions for Nanning and Guangxi to integrate into Southeast Asia. In fact, the China-ASEAN Expo has also developed the exhibition economy, which can greatly enhance multilateral trade and open a window for mutual investment. The Consulate General of Southeast Asian countries also contributed to the China-ASEAN Expo.

Seeing that the China-ASEAN Expo was successfully held in Nanning, Kunming decided to make great efforts to carve it again.

In 20 13, with the unremitting efforts of Kunming, the "South Asian National Commodities Fair" was officially upgraded to the "South Expo". In terms of weight and status, Kunming has a national-level export exchange platform for South Asia, and the exhibition platform of "one south and one east" is becoming the epitome of "Kunming" competition.

In 20 17, the "Sino-Thai Railway" was officially started, and Kunming's docking with Southeast Asia entered a new era. After the completion of the Sino-Thai Railway, Kunming can reach Bangkok directly in 7 hours. This railway will bring unprecedented development opportunities to Kunming, which is playing an increasingly important role in the great process of the Trans-Asian Railway.

From 2065438 to February 2009, the National Development and Reform Commission issued "Policies and Measures on Supporting Yunnan Province to Accelerate the Construction of a Radiation Center for South Asia and Southeast Asia", which clearly stated: support Yunnan to accelerate the construction of a "radiation center", which has shown that Yunnan has made breakthrough progress and status in docking with Southeast Asia.

However, in the approved urban planning of Beibu Gulf, Nanning is entrusted with the important task of connecting Southeast Asia, while in the layout and construction planning of national logistics hub, Nanning is positioned as a national logistics hub city with several major orientations, such as "dry port type", "production service type" and "business service type", which will undoubtedly make Nanning form an agglomeration effect in logistics, and then attract capital and resources to guide Nanning.

Of course, positioning is on the one hand, and positioning and policy support alone cannot realize who is the center of docking Southeast Asia. Moreover, the two cities are evenly matched in positioning and actual operation support.

In order to turn the advantages of location and access into economy, the most important thing is to gather resources in cities instead of just passing by. Therefore, it is very important to improve the energy level of the city and the strength of the city itself.

At present, the volume and popularity of Kunming are better than that of Nanning. In 2020, the turnover of Kunming has reached 673.3 billion yuan, while that of Nanning in the same period was 472.6 billion yuan. The volume gap between the two is not small. At present, the development momentum of Guiyang City in Guizhou Province is very rapid, and Guiyang has the potential to surpass Nanning in volume. Judging from the size of the city, Kunming's leading edge is very obvious.

In terms of permanent population, in 2020, the permanent population of Nanning will be 8.74 million, followed by Kunming with 8.46 million. At present, Kunming is slightly better than Nanning in comprehensive strength and actual influence, especially in the further construction of the Trans-Asian Railway.

Although Nanning has a superior location, it has not given full play to its location advantages, especially the advantage of being the only sea in the west. It remains to be seen whether the construction of the new land-sea passage can improve this situation in Nanning.

With the construction of economic channel, the competition between Kunming and Nanning will also enter a "white-hot" stage. Under the superposition of positioning and policy support, both cities have the opportunity to become the center of docking Southeast Asia. In the short term, Kunming has a strong development momentum, but Nanning has a huge geographical advantage. If Nanning can make good use of its own advantages, it is not difficult to win the center of docking Southeast Asia.

With the deepening of the Belt and Road and inland southward direction, Kunming and Nanning are facing unprecedented development opportunities.

Who do you think is the most likely to become the central city connecting Southeast Asia, Kunming or Nanning?