China Sweeps Landmines Along Sino-Vietnam Border

China has started a land-mine sweeping mission along the Sino-Vietnam border in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang region.

Twenty-one explosions were heard in Pingxiang City on Friday as dozens of People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers detonated mines in the nearby minefield, ChinaMil reported Saturday.

It is part of the country's third large-scale de-mining missions since the 1990s, which began in southwest Yunnan Province on Nov. 3.

Hundreds of thousands of landmines were laid along the border during confrontations between the two countries from 1979 to 1989.

De-mining will help the opening up and development of the border region, Yan Lixiang, deputy chief of staff of the PLA Guangxi Regional Military Area Command was quoted as saying by the news daily.

The Guangxi mission covers 53 minefields in eight cities and counties and is scheduled to complete before 2017.

China conducted two large-scale de-mining campaigns from 1992 to 1994 and from 1997 to 1999. From 2001 to 2008, Chinese soldiers also cleared mines for a boundary demarcation project.