Honghe Prefecture: Creating New Connections Between China and Vietnam

Honghe Prefecture is located in the southeastern central part of Yunnan province. It borders Vietnam’s Lào Cai and Lai Châu provinces to the south. Its name comes from the Hong (Red) River, which flows out of China and into Vietnam through Yunnan’s Honghe Autonomous Prefecture. This area is part of Yunnan, known for its natural scenery, rice terraces, and being primarily inhabited by the Hani and Yi minorities. An interesting historical detail is that it has a French connection because the Dianyue Railway, which connects Kunming to Hanoi, was built by the French in 1908. The paper discusses how the provincial government has redesigned Honghe’s industrial layout to better connect the economies of China and Vietnam.