Click to play videoKunming, Yunnan province China is promoting the city of Kunming as the new gateway to Asia. The city in south-western China is Beijing's new competitor.
Kunming is China's eternal spring city in the south-west of the country in the Yunnan province. Bordering Bhutan, Burma, Vietnam and Laos, it is strategically placed on the Silk Route from where any flight can land in most of Asian airports within five hours.
The city is now actively competing with Beijing to replace the Chinese capital as the biggest destination - in trade, tourism and diplomacy. Yunnan province has already started promoting Kunming as the gateway to Asia.
It's a perception problem that China wants to overcome. The name Beijing evokes some strong sentiments outside China. The Chinese leadership knows that Kunming does not come with any such baggage.
"The Chinese central government is now trying to promote Yunnan. They know the advantages that Kunming and Yunnan bring," said Shen Li Jiong, GM, Overseas Chinese Media Cooperation Ltd.
Chinese President Hu Jintao has already announced that "the gateway strategy should be included in the nation's 12th Five-Year Plan. Even the government-backed Yunnan TV is being positioned to compete directly with the omnipresent China Central Television.
"Here in Kunming, we give all ethnic minorities their proper rights. You will see they are happy. Yunnan offers you a different China. All the media which report differently about China should come to Yunnan," said Zhang Tianxin, Member, Communist Party of China, Yunnan Province.
At the 19th Kunming Import and Export Trade fair, held earlier this month, Chinese leaders were seen busy promoting Kunming as not just the next gateway to China but also the largest trade hub of the country.
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