China approves border development zone in NE
- Source: Global Times
- [05:18 November 17 2009]
- Comments
Russian businesswomen buy toys at a store in Huichun,Northeast China's Jilin Province in September 2009. Before the zone was approved, cooperation was centered around Huichun. Photo: CFP
The Chinese government has approved a border development zone in the Tumen River Delta to boost cross-border cooperation in the Northeast Asian region, the provincial government of Jilin announced on Monday.
The information office of the government said the pilot zone covering 73,000 square kilometers involved the cities of Changchun and Jilin as well as the Tumen River area.
Han Changbin, governor of Jilin, said the Changchun-Jilin-Tumen pilot zone was China's first border development zone.
It is expected to push forward cross-border cooperation in the Tumen River Delta.
The delta, a 516-kilometer-long river straddling the borders of China, Russia and North Korea, was set up as an economic development zone in 1991 by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to promote trade.
In 1995, five countries – China, Russia, North Korea, South Korea and Mongolia – ratified the agreement on the Establishment of the Cooperation Commission for the Tumen River Economic Development Area. Japan participated in the program as an observer.
In 2005, the five signatories agreed to extend the agreement for another 10 years.
They also agreed to expand the area to the Greater Tumen Region and to further strengthen cooperation for economic growth and sustainable development for the peoples of Northeast Asia.
"Before the Changchun-Jilin-Tumen pilot zone was initiated, the Chinese part of the Tumen River area was mainly Huichun, a port city in Jilin, that has involved in the cross-border cooperation," said Zhu Xianping, director of the Northeast Asia Research Institute of Jilin University in Changchun.
