China and N Korea co-develop economic zone

Changchun (CNS) – The establishment of the Luoxian Economic Zone will get underway this year, giving priority to infrastructure, agriculture, tourism and other industrial projects, an official source said on Tuesday.

In 2010, the leaders of China and North Korea agreed to cooperate and co-manage the zone, set in a North Korean city connected to both China and Russia. In July 2011, Jilin Province and Luoxian City inked an agreement to complete construction between 2011 and 2020.

For the infrastructure projects, Jilin province will focus on a port, energy and transportation facilities, said Li Tie, director of the Development Office of the Tumen River Area. The zone hopes to attract a number of enterprises to settle there, in particular manufacturing operations for the automotive, textile, food and household electrical appliance industries.

According to documents published by North Korea, Luoxian City has telephone, fax and mobile phone connections to other countries, and is presently home to 100 foreign enterprises, most of which are the small and medium-sized variety.

Li said Jilin Province will engage stated-owned enterprises and well-established private firms to invest in, and help develop, the Luoxian Economic Zone.