The Yunnan provincial government said it hopes to turn the southwestern province into a trade and financial center to serve the mining industry throughout Southeast Asia, the Shanghai Securities Journal reported. The province established the Yunnan Provincial Mining Rights Trading Center in 2006. “China and the neighboring countries are active places for investment in mining resources but we need a world-class trading and financing platform,” provincial governor Qin Guang said. “Mining venture capital is a novelty in the newly emerging Chinese market”. He said Yunnan was well positioned to become a regional trade and financing hub for the sector as it was already a significant mining area. The world’s top three trade and financing centers for the mining industry are in Toronto, Sydney and Johannesburg.