"Since reports about the cancellation of a proposed US$20 billion railway line connecting China?s southern Yunnan province with Myanmar?s Rakhine western coast emerged in late July, conflicting accounts about the 1,200 kilometer project?s status have raised new questions about the neighboring countries? commercial relations. The controversy erupted with a local news report quoting Myint Wai, director of Myanmar?s Ministry of Rail Transportation, saying that the project had been "cancelled" after over three years of inaction on a 2011 agreement. A DPA report furthered the story by quoting an anonymous Myanmar government official saying the Kyaukpyu-Kunming railway was popularly perceived as having "more disadvantages than advantages" and was cancelled in line with the "people?s desires". Yang Houlan, China?s Ambassador to Myanmar, contradicted that report, saying China had not abandoned the project. The state mouthpiece China Daily underscored that official line, reporting that an "unidentified Myanmar economic official" said that the project only needs "continued coordination". The China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC), the original Chinese investor in the project, meanwhile has been reluctant to respond to the conflicting reports... the railway is of strategic importance to China: it had been regarded as a key component of China?s Trans-Asia railway network and a critical element for developing a southwest strategic corridor to the Indian Ocean, a route for crucial imports that bypassed the congested Malacca Strait and hotly contested South China Sea... cancellation of the multi-billion dollar railway project would indicate a further deterioration of Sino-Myanmar ties, despite Beijing?s sustained bid to portray the relationship as strong and healthy..."