On June 2, the signing ceremony of strategic cooperation agreement between Yunnan Aviation Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd and Yunnan Postal Branch of China Post Group Co., Ltd. and the launching ceremony of the China Post air mail cargo flight Kunming-Bangkok were held in Kunming.

To actively integrate into the “Belt and Road” Initiative and the strategy of building Yunnan Province into the radiation center and the strong province in civil aviation, Yunnan Aviation Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd and Yunnan Postal Branch keep improving cooperation level, expanding cooperation scope and innovating cooperation mode based on the principles of “taking a long-term view, complementing each other’s strengths, pursuing common development and driving for results”. On June 2, the two parties formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement to achieve common development and mutual benefit by jointly building a full-scale, long-term and in-depth strategic partnership according to the principles of good faith, mutual respect, complementary advantages and mutual benefit. Relying on the construction of Kunming International Aviation Hub and China Post Southwest Cross-border E-commerce Distribution Hub and sticking to the idea of development guided by planning and business matching resources, the two parties will fully revitalize the land resources, actively promote the integration of logistics resources, streamline the freight process and improve the operational efficiency, so as to provide customers with smooth and efficient services. They will drive the regional economic development through the development of aviation logistics and help to push the construction of Yunnan as a radiation center.

China Postal Airlines flight CF217, Boeing 757-200, carrying 25 tons of mail, took off from Kunming Changshui International Airport to Bangkok at 11:30 on June 2 and returned from Thailand at 15:20, which marked the official opening of China Post’s “Kunming-Bangkok” international cargo route. This is the first direct international air route to Bangkok, Thailand by China Post’s independent air network, which runs from Tuesday to Saturday. So far, the international (regional) routes operated by China Postal Airlines have reached 8, which strongly support the development of China Post international mail service. The opening of this route also marks that Yunnan Postal Branch is accelerating in proactively serving and being engaged with the construction of Yunnan as the radiation center of South and Southeast Asia, promoting the international air transport capacity, enhancing the competitive advantages of foreign trade, supporting local businesses to return to work and production, further speeding up the transportation of epidemic prevention material, and giving a  boost to the world in the fight against COVID-19.

It is understood that Yunnan Postal Branch has always followed the requirements put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his visit to Yunnan, made full use of Yunnan’s location advantage as a radiation center for South and Southeast Asia, actively served and integrated into the “Belt and Road” national development strategy, and opened a path of leap-forward development for serving the society and local economy. With the spread of COVID-19 around the world, the situation is getting more and more serious. Executive meetings of the State Council have repeatedly emphasized the adoption of effective measures to improve China’s international air cargo transportation capacity, enhance the international competitiveness of logistics and strive to stabilize the supply chain. At the same time, the 66^th executive meeting of Yunnan Provincial People’s Government clearly has pointed out that Yunnan international air cargo market capacity must be effectively enhanced and the high-quality development of aviation logistics and the industry must be achieved. During this period, Yunnan Postal Branch has taken various measures to open the green channel of international mail for the transportation of epidemic prevention materials. From January 23 to May 30 Yunnan Postal Branch has handled 65,032 pieces of incoming international anti-epidemic mail and 332,117 pieces of outgoing international anti-epidemic mail.

On May 14, Yunnan Postal Branch, together with China Eastern Airlines, launched the “China Post” Kunming-San Francisco international cargo charter flight which was transformed from passenger flight. The China Postal Airlines Kunming-Bangkok air route will further accelerate the cooperation between Yunnan and South and Southeast Asia in connectivity, trade and finance, upgrade the influence of Yunnan as the international economic and trade center in this region, promote the construction of the new platform for opening up, improve the level of customs clearance facilitation, and enhance the regional economic and trade cooperation.

For the next step, Yunnan Postal Branch will give full play to its advantages, smooth the import and export customs clearance channels, deliver the local products such as flowers, tea, fruits, tobacco, jade, mushrooms and medicine to the outside world, helping foreign trade enterprises to resume production. At the same time, they will strive to build an open two-way mutual aid platform connecting South and Southeast Asia, and build an international exchange hub covering many provinces in Southwest and Northwest China.

The picture shows the plane being loaded with goods.