Economic Construction of Nathu La Pass

Nathu La Pass is located at the junction of Yadong County in Tibet, China and Sikkim State in India. It is about 4,500 meters above sea level. It is the highest road trade channel in the world and also a good land route between China and India. The trade channel is suitable for people to pass through from April to October every year. Nathu La Pass is 54 kilometers away from Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim State, 52 kilometers away from Yadong County in Tibet, and 429 kilometers away from Lhasa. It is the shortest passage connecting China and India for land trade.

Before the opening up, more than 90% of China-India trade was transported by sea, while most of Tibet’s foreign trade was handled through Tianjin Port, thousands of kilometers apart. Once we take the Nathu La Pass, the distance from Lhasa to Kolkata and other Indian Ocean ports via Yadong can be shortened to about 1,200 kilometers, which is very beneficial to the opening up of western China. Although China and India have previously opened two trade channels on the border: one is the Lipulek Pass, which is a mule and horse track, and vehicles cannot yet pass; the other is the Shipchi Pass. Due to poor weather, traffic and other objective conditions, This channel has only a few hundred thousand dollars worth of transactions per year.

As the third trade channel, relevant people expect that in the early stages of Nathu La's opening up, the value of Sikkim's re-exports will reach at least about 200 million U.S. dollars per year. Once the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is successfully completed in 2007 Once completed, the quantity and variety of commodities transferred from mainland China to South Asia through Nathu La will increase dramatically. By then, not only the potential of Sino-Indian border trade cannot be underestimated, but a situation in which southwest China and South Asia are integrated is also very likely to occur. India is optimistic about the prospects of this border trade market. According to India's "Pioneer" report, Sikkim Chief Minister Shanlin said in an interview with reporters: "Once border trade is reopened, the economy of this region will become better. At the same time, we hope that the tourism industry will also take the opportunity to develop. "He believed that this trade channel contained huge business opportunities, so he actively requested the central government to invest in repairing roads, building warehouses, setting up customs and immigration bureaus, strengthening infrastructure construction, and preparing for the early reopening of Nathu La Pass; he even It is also hoped that a long-distance bus from Gangtok to Lhasa can be opened.

In Sikkim, a state with a large number of unemployed people, the reopening of border trade has aroused great interest among locals. Stall vendors in the border area said that the trade activities carried out in the initial stage of the reopening of Nathu La Pass will be similar to those during the ancient Silk Road. Silk products, yak products and wool from China will enter the Indian market through a small village near the pass.

Some Indian experts even estimate more optimistically that the opening of Nathu La Pass is likely to become a trade lifeline between China and India, and thus give birth to a new Asian trade bloc. Amul Corporation, India's largest dairy conglomerate, originally took at least two weeks to transport its dairy products to China by sea. In order to ensure the freshness of the milk, a large amount of money was invested in packaging. These costs can be saved in the future. A manager of the company told reporters: "In the future, more cheese and ice cream can be shipped to China regularly. I feel like China is next door." Iron ore supplier Singer also feels the same way. In the past, for To fill a ship with 40,000 tons of iron ore, the company needs to owe raw material merchants US$2.5 million first, which cannot be repaid until the ore arrives. Singer happily said that in the future, road transportation can be carried out on a cash-on-delivery basis. , transported one car at a time. According to historians, merchants from mainland China began trading with Central Asia, West Asia and South Asia more than 2,000 years ago. In his book "China" written by the 19th century German geographer von Richthofen, for the first time, the transportation route between China in the Han Dynasty and southern and western Central Asia and India was called the "Silk Road". Because at that time, a large amount of Chinese silk and silk fabrics were transmitted westward through this road. According to historical records, this was also the route taken by the eminent monk Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty when he “study to the West for Buddhist scriptures”. According to Liu Runing, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Commercial Section of the Chinese Embassy in India, Tibet Yadong on this route was once the largest commercial port between China and India. In the early 20th century, the transaction volume here reached a peak of hundreds of millions of silver dollars, accounting for 100% of China’s total at that time. It accounts for more than 80% of India’s total border trade. Since the Sino-Indian border conflict in 1962, China and India have successively abolished customs and other institutions in the original border trade market. Nathu La Pass is guarded by the army, and the border trade channel is isolated by barbed wire. According to Indians who have been here in the past few years, the roads here in India can be described as "deserted and sparsely populated," and anything larger than a jeep is not allowed to pass. The movement of people is also strictly restricted. Looking around, it is desolate, and the once bustling border trade market no longer exists.

With the improvement of Sino-Indian relations, after Vajpayee, then Indian Prime Minister, visited China in 2003, China and India agreed to resume the opening of the Nathu La Pass, and this ancient trade route once again attracted attention. In the past two years, many people from all over Tibet, and even outside the autonomous region, came to Yadong to buy and rent real estate, waiting for the rapid appreciation in value after the port opened.

In 2004, China and India signed a memorandum of understanding on border trade via the Nathu La Pass. Then came another good news: the State Council officially approved Tibet’s overall plan for the construction of the Renqinggang border trade market in Yadong County. This marks that the re-opening of Yadong Port has moved from the research and demonstration stage to the organization and implementation stage. Liang Haihong, secretary of the Yadong County Party Committee, told reporters that more than half of the highway from Shigatse to Yadong has been built, and the highway from Yadong to Nathu La Pass is said to be about to be completed. In addition, a railway will be built from Lhasa to Yadong via Shigatse. This railway is likely to be extended to connect with the Indian Railways.

In this way, combined with the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, there will be a railway artery of more than 1,000 kilometers from the entire Tibetan area and even the larger western region to Kolkata, India. In the past, the Indian military was most opposed to the opening of the Nathu La Pass. They were worried that once border trade was opened, China would strengthen border infrastructure construction, especially the construction of transportation facilities, whether roads, railways, or airports, which would strengthen the Chinese military. Concentration and mobility capabilities on the Sino-Indian border. However, as China-India relations become closer and closer, India is less and less worried about security when it comes to border opening, and is more and more interested in economy and trade. India has organized a coordination meeting attended by 12 ministers to discuss issues such as land and water transportation, border security, immigration and trade involved after the opening of Nathu La Pass.

Counselor Liu Runing believes that reopening the Nathu La Pass has both symbolic and practical significance; it has both political and economic significance. The former military restricted area is about to regain its original appearance as a border trade center, which undoubtedly marks a new level of Sino-Indian relations; at the same time, it will definitely stimulate the economic development of the border areas between the two countries; and it will also enhance personnel exchanges. He said that Sino-Indian trade has been developing by leaps and bounds, growing at an average annual rate of 40%, and is expected to reach US$18.5 billion in 2006. The opening of Nathu La Pass can not only be regarded as a signal of the comprehensive restoration of relations between the two countries, but also pave the way for the people of China and India to better enhance understanding and develop friendship in the future. Nathu La Pass is located at the junction of Yadong County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet and the Sikkim Section of India, with an altitude of 4,545 meters, 460 kilometers away from Lhasa, and about 550 kilometers away from the Indian coastal city of Kolkata. This was once the main channel on the southern route of the "Silk Road" and the main land trade channel between China and India. At the beginning of the 20th century, the annual transaction volume here reached hundreds of millions of silver dollars at its peak, accounting for more than 80% of the total Sino-Indian border trade at that time. Due to historical reasons, after the 1960s, the two countries successively abolished customs and other institutions in the original border trade market. Nathu La Pass was guarded by the army, and the border trade channel was isolated by barbed wire.

The reopening of Nathu La Pass will play an important role in building a major land channel from China to India and South Asia, expanding Sino-Indian border trade, and benefiting the people of both countries.

According to the website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China is India’s third largest trading partner, and India is China’s eleventh largest trading partner. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China, the trade volume between China and India is about to exceed 20 billion US dollars.