China to invest in N.Korea's SEZ

Graphics: GT

By Wang Zhaokun

South Korean media reported Thursday that China will become involved in the development of a North Korean Special Economic Zone (SEZ) next year following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Beijing and Pyongyang.

However, analysts have downplayed the possibility of massive Chinese investment in the area and a further economic opening-up in North Korea.

China will invest $3.5 billion over five years in the Rajin-Sonbong SEZ - once the center of the United Nations Development Program's Tumen River project in 1991 - the Seoul-based Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted a diplomatic source as saying. The investment will cover sectors such as roads, ports and gas facilities in the region.

The Rajin-Sonbong area, also known as the Rason special city, is at the mouth of the Tuman River, which serves as part of the boundary between China, North Korea and Russia.

Global Times reporter Cheng Gang visited the Rajin- Sonbong SEZ in early December and quoted local sources as saying that negotiations between China and North Korea were underway for the establishment of a high-level administrative organ to prepare for possible future development of the region.

"The Rajin-Sonbong SEZ might become a Shenzhen-like city in Northeast Asia," Cheng analyzed in a report this month.