With its seafood and produce, Myanmar has a lot to offer the world. Its border with southwestern China's Yunnan province should mean imports and exports can flow easily between the Belt and Road neighbors. But transport is a challenge. CGTN's Yang Jinghao shows us what's being done to address that.

Fresh crab straight from the Indian Ocean. Every morning, An Xingjie and his employees race against time to sort, pack and distribute their crustaceous catch to different Chinese cities. A native of Ruili, China's border city with Myanmar, An has witnessed the fast growth of seafood business between the two sides.

AN XINGJIE CRAB BUSINESSMAN "When I got into this industry years ago, I remember I only had four or five employees. Now, I have more than 20 people working for me."

Many of the workers in the market, mostly Burmese, have also seen the change.

MG PYA TOE BURMESE WORKER "I have worked here for seven years. It's obvious that the market is getting increasingly busy as more and more people are joining the business."

While importing various farm produce like seafood and fruit from Myanmar, China also exports many mechanical and electrical products via ports in the city. In 2018, total value of imports and exports through ports in Dehong Prefecture reached some 11 billion US dollars. The year-on-year growth was about 67 percent. Nevertheless, challenges still remain.

YANG JINGHAO RUILI, YUNNAN PROVINCE "These trucks from Myanmar are lining up to enter China. For many goods from this neighboring southeast Asian country, it usually takes at least two days to reach China due to the poor transportation infrastructure, which has impeded the otherwise fast-growing bilateral trade."

An is just one businessman affected by the transportation problem.

AN XINGJIE CRAB BUSINESSMAN "It would be great if transport time could shorten to just two days from the current three. An extra day would mean a 10 to 20 percent reduction in the number of crabs that die during transportation. That's a considerable amount for us."

To address this long-term headache, the two Belt and Road partners are collaborating further. The China-Myanmar Railway has made key breakthroughs. Construction is set to begin on a major railway segment within Myanmar that links its major land port of Muse with its second largest city, Mandalay. A Chinese company just finished a geological survey in the country. Officials in Dehong have high expectations for this long-anticipated project.

WEI GANG, GOVERNOR DEHONG DAI AND JINGPO AUTONOMOUS PREFECTURE "It's estimated that the annual railway freight volume can reach over 17 million tons. Dehong is expected to become China's largest land port by then, and more high-quality goods will reach each other's markets."

An says the progression of the Belt and Road initiative will only strengthen the understanding and trust between the two peoples. And he believes this, in turn, will help improve the business environment in Myanmar. YJH, CGTN, Ruili, Yunnan Province.