Lweje လွယ်ဂျယ်မြို့ | |
|---|---|
 The boundary stone at Lweje | |
  Lweje Location in Myanmar | |
| Coordinates:24°12′0″N97°43′0″E / 24.20000°N 97.71667°E /24.20000; 97.71667 | |
| Country |  Myanmar |
| State |  Kachin State |
| District | Bhamo District |
| Township | Momauk Township |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Religions | ChristianityBuddhism |
| Time zone | UTC+6.30 (MMT) |
Lweje (Burmese:လွယ်ဂျယ်မြို့; also speltLoije,Chinese:雷基;pinyin:Léijī) is a town inKachin State in northeasternBurma, across theChina-Myanmar border fromZhangfeng [zh], inLongchuan County,Yunnan Province,China. It is one of five officialborder trade posts with China.
TheKachin Independence Army captured Sein Lon Taung strategy hill of Military Council near Lweje, Moe Mauk Township on April 1 - 2024.After the occupation of the military's Sein Long Mountain base, Banmaw-Lweje road and Lweje town surrounding area became military council-free zone and KIA-led allied forces have complete control of Lweje town and the border gate.[1]
Border trade in the region has tripled since the upgrading of the dirt road connecting Lweje withMomauk, a distance of 76 km (47 mi), to a gravel road with Chinese assistance, was completed in December 2006. It has cut the journey time fromBhamo on theAyeyarwady River to the border from nearly 10 hours to about 3 hours.[2]
The Lwezje border trade post with China opened on 23 August 1998.[3] In 2022, total trade volume at the border post stood atUS$122.76 million.[4]
Exports to China include fruit, beans, rice and onions, whileelectronics,textiles and foodstuffs are imported. The volume of trade however is much smaller compared withMuse inShan State where up to 75% of exports to Yunnan passes through toRuili across theShweli River.[2]
After the then rulingmilitary regime negotiatedceasefire agreements with theUnited Wa State Army (UWSA) and theNew Democratic Army - Kachin (NDA-K) in 1989, and with theKachin Independence Organization (KIO) in 1994, a boom in thetimber trade with China followed. Earlierlogging concessions granted toThai companies were cancelled in 1993 due to economic loss from violation of terms and over-logging withecological devastation.[5]
Northern Kachin State became the area for most of the logging activity mainly by Chinese companies employing Chinese labour, and Lweje, along withLaiza, one of thecheckpoints on the border. KIO logging activities also increased dramatically when after the cease-fire deal it lost control of theHpakantjademines and the revenue they had generated. From 1997 to 2002, 88% of China's timber exports from Burma was shipped overland to Yunnan, 75% of this from Kachin State.[5]
There are believed to exist large deposits ofcoal in the Lweje area.[6]
Human trafficking of women into China is a problem the two countries are trying to tackle and anti-trafficking offices were opened on 22 December 2008 in both Lweje and Jiang Phong.[7]
During September–October 2007 at the time of theSaffron Revolution,Buddhistmonasteries were surrounded and locked down at Lweje by the military as in many other parts of the country.[8]
Centenary celebrations of theAmerican BaptistMission were held for 3 days at Lweje at the end of December 2008.[9]
{{cite web}}:|archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)Capital:Myitkyina | ||
| Bhamo District |   | |
| Mohnyin District | ||
| Myitkyina District | ||
| Chipwi District | ||
| Putao District | ||
| Tanai District | ||
| Main cities and towns | ||