China is developing the eastern part of Jilin Province, near the border it shares with North Korean and Russia.
The province to be developed will become the China Tumen River Area International Cooperation Demonstration Zone, to be completed by 2020. Infrastructure projects will include railways that will connect the cities of Jilin, Tumen and Hunchun and roads will extend to the North Korean port of Rajin on the Sea of Japan.
China hopes the economic development program will urge North Korea and its young leader, Kim Jong-un, to carry out nation-building policies to facilitate economic growth in the isolated nation. China, protective of the borders, wants to access strategic distribution networks and international shipping lanes near Russia and Japan.
