Hekou Yao Autonomous County

Hekou County
Hekou border crossing
Country	China
Province	Yunnan
Prefecture	Honghe
Area
• Total	1,313 km2 (507 sq mi)
Population
• Total	80,000
• Density	61/km2 (160/sq mi)
Postal code	661300
Area code(s)	0873
Website	http://www.hekou.org/

The Hekou Yao Autonomous County (simplified Chinese: 河口瑶族自治县; traditional Chinese: 河口瑤族自治縣; pinyin: Hékǒu Yáozú Zìzhìxiàn) is an autonomous county in the southern part of the Yunnan province of China. It is part of the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture and borders the northern Vietnamese town of Lào Cai. It was apparently known as Zhongcheng (Chinese: 忠誠州; pinyin: Zhōngchéng Zhōu) during the Tang dynasty.

First established in 1992, Hekou Border Economic Cooperation Zone is a border zone approved by State Council in China to promote trade between China and Vietnam. It has a planned area of 4.02 square kilometers. The zone implemented several policies to serve its clients in China from various industries and sectors including investment, trade, finance, taxation, immigration, etc.

There are bus route to all destinations within Yunnan, including an overnight sleeper service from Kunming. More destinations can be reached by transfer in Mengzi.

There is a highway linking Xinjie, a town in Hekou County, with Lào Cai Province in northern Vietnam. It opened in February 2008 and marked the completion of the first highway linking Yunnan with a neighboring country from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The 56.3 kilometer, 3.58 billion yuan Xinhe highway is one of the numerous infrastructure projects that will increase connectivity between Yunnan and ASEAN and facilitate the transport of people and goods between the two regions, which are expecting to see a major increase in tourism and trade in the coming years.