The importance of people exchanges between China and Myanmar to improve the livelihood of both peoples was highlighted by a Chinese delegation during a one-day conference in Kunming, capital of the southwestern province of Yunnan, on Tuesday.

Chinese and Myanmar delegates hold heated exchanges during a panel discussion of Dialogue on Win-Win Development of China-Myanmar Round-Table on People's Exchanges in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan province, on May 14, 2013. [Photo by Yang Jie/chinadaily.com.cn]

Attracting more than 60 representatives from China and Myanmar, the China-Myanmar Round-Table on People's Exchanges aims at pooling the wisdom on both sides to enhance development.

"We can't choose our neighbors, and we are committed to helping Myanmar with whatever they need and whatever problems they have, be it about agricultural infrastructure or industrialization, said Li Weizhong, an official with China-Myanmar Friendship Association, at the panel discussion of the conference. The China-Myanmar Friendship Association was established to boost people-to-people exchanges between China and Myanmar.

"China gives great importance to the exchanges and cooperation with Myanmar and aims to build Yunnan into a bridge to Southeast Asia," said Li Jinze, deputy director general of Yunnan provincial development and reform commission, at the panel discussion.

"Both Yunnan and Myanmar are underdeveloped regions, and deepening cooperation between them is good for both to achieve the common goal of bringing benefits to the people," added Li.