CHINA has built an international "cooperation demonstration zone" - a Shenzhen-like jurisdiction under different rules - in Hunchun, Jilin province, 150 miles west of Vladivostok, with the aim of fostering cross border cooperation with North Korea and Russia, reports Xinhua.
The zone will cover 90 square kilometres and enjoy national preferential policies ranging from taxes and land use to financial support and talent pooling, according to the press conference held by Jilin provincial government.
Hunchun, with a population of 250,000, resumed and re-opened Sino-Russian Hunchun-Kamyshovaya railway operations and facilities in June, after its suspension in 2000. A 488-kilometre high-speed railway from Changchun to Hunchun has also been built and neighbouring airports have been expanded.
"The zone symbolises the new stage of development of the Tumen River Area by China, Russia, North Korea, South Korea and Mongolia," said Shen Xujian, deputy regional development director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Li Longxi, mayor of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, where Hunchun is located, said local authorities will ease visa procedures to attract more tourists to visit North Korea and Russia via Yanbian.
The completion of the zone will not only facilitate logistics between the northeast and other parts of China through sea freight, will also accelerate the development of other projects such as Russia's gas pipeline to South Korea, says Lv Chao, a researcher from the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.
In 1990, the UN's Development Programme sought to raise US$30 billion within 20 years and develop the region along the Tumen River into a world-class transport, trade and financial hub.
But the region's weak economy discouraged investment from Japan and South Korea, not to mention the rising political tension that dampened investors' interest.
While some residents welcomed the set up of the zone, Hunchun's success as an engine for economic growth depends on the genuine cooperation and peaceful solutions to conflicts between neighbouring countries, Mr Lv said.