F REIGN TRADE - 中国国际贸易促进委员会

LOCALAn international cooperative demonstrationzone is to be built in Northeast China’sJilin Province to boost cross-bordercooperation in the region, according to apress conference held in Beijing on May 21.The zone, named Tumen River Area (Hunchun)International Cooperation DemonstrationZone, is located in Hunchun, a port borderingRussia and DPRK. It covers 90 square kilometersand includes four functional zones in terms of foreigntrade cooperation, international industrial cooperation,Sino-DPRK and Sino-Russia economiccooperation.The zone is centered in Hunchun facingNortheast Asia, with the city group Changchun-Jilin-Tumenjiang as the supportive base. It willfunction as a major transportation hub and a logisticscenter in Northeast Asia. Also, in future, thelivable and ecological city clusters with prosperouseconomy and enjoyable environment will be agrowth pole of Northeast China.“The construction of the zone will furtherthe development and opening-up in TumenjiangRiver area, accelerate the revitalization of the oldindustrial base in Northeast China, and upgradethe opening-up in China’s border areas,” saidShen Xujian, deputy regional development directorunder the National Development and ReformCommission, adding that “It will promote China’seconomic and trade cooperation with neighborcountries, especially with DPRK and Russia.”The zone is to mainly promote trade, logisticsand cross-border tourism, with the priority in atransportation network facing the Northeast Asia.It is expected to serve as a model for internationalcooperation in Northeast Asia and for the developmentand opening-up of border areas in China.The construction of the zone will be aided byvarious supportive policies, including those relatedto fiscal, industrial layout and investment, land usage,infrastructure construction, finance, customssupervision and port construction,technology innovation and talent cultivation,customs clearance facilitationand special funds.The Tumen River in Hunchunstraddles the borders of China, Russiaand the DPRK. In April of this year,the Chinese government announcedthat it has approved the establishmentof the demonstration zone.It can date back to 1992, whenChina, Russia, DPRK, ROK, andMongolia jointly initiated the TumenRiver Region Cooperation and DevelopmentProject.In 2009, the State Council approvedand implemented the outlinefor the development of Tumen River Region, withChangchun-Jilin-Tumen as the development andopening-up pilot zone. Progress has been made onregional cooperation and development in TumenjiangRiver region in the past 3 years.The construction of Rason Economic andTrade Zone jointly developed and managed byChina and DPRK was launched in June 2011.China-Russia Channel of road and port wasimplemented. Great Channel between China andMongolia are under speedy construction. Activeprogress has been also made in the construction ofChangchun-Jilin-Tumenjiang Development andOpening-up Pilot Zone. Changchun and Jilin areintegrated in terms of urban planning, investmentattraction, infrastructure construction and informationsharing.“Hunchun plays a better role as a windowto the outside. It has started the establishment ofRussia, Japan, ROK and Jigang Industrial Park,and has a good foundation for the development ofexport-oriented economy,” said Chen Weigen, ViceGovernor of Jilin Province.The railway between Hunchun and Kameshovayaof Russia will resume operations in June.A passage that connects Jilin with Busan andNiigata via Zarubino was developed. It then willtake only 1.5 days from Jilin to Busan, and 22hours to Niigata. In the past, it took 5 days and3.5 days respectively. The main part of the reconstructionof Won Jing Ri-Rajin port road wasfinished. Commodities can now be transportedfrom Hunchun to Shanghai (Ningbo) Port viaRajin Port, charting an economical and convenientsea transportation channel for northeastChina.“In the future, we will reinforce infrastructureconstructions, establish international logistics systemand introduce more foreign direct investment,”said Li Longxi, Mayor of Yanbian where Hunchunis located.Int’l Cooperation Zoneunder Construction in JilinBy Zhu Zijun63