A North Korean opened a stall at a market in Dandong, Liaoning. Soon, it will be a typical scene in the China-North Korea border trade zone./ Source from Xinhua News Agency

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By Hong Soon-do, Beijing correspondent, AsiaToday - China continues to reach out to North Korea despite their strained relations. It seems North Korea will have to respond to China's gestures of reconciliation soon.

According to a source well-versed in North Korea affairs on Thursday, this observation comes from a recently launched border trade zone in the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong, in Liaoning province. The Guomenwan border trade zone will be officially opened during a trade and tourism expo in mid October at the latest.

The trade zone covers 40,000 square meters of land and has a floor area of 24,000 square meters. It has a total investment of 1 billion yuan (KRW 185 billion won). China covered most of the expenses for the establishment. The trade condition is simple. Chinese residents living within 20 km of the border will be able to exchange commodities at the marketplace with people from North Korea and enjoy a duty-free policy on goods purchased for less than 8,000 yuan (KRW 1.5 million won). If the market becomes vitalized, it is expected to explosively increase the amount of trade of the two nations. Since there are more than 600 border trade enterprises in Dandong, the market is expected to be vitalized.

China's move to extensively develop Hunchun in China's Jilin province, which is next to the borders of North Korea and Russia, can also be seen as a signal of reconciliation towards North Korea. Currently, the central government and the city authorities are actively working on developing infrastructure for inland and shipping routes. One of the outputs is Yanji-Hunchun railway, which has opened recently. In June, Chinese cargo from Hunchun has made the journey to Rajin port to Shanghai. 

In addition, China's active development of Jilin's Tumen, which is opposite Namyang in North Korea, and its establishment of one day trip to the North Korea-China border could be seen in the same context. Mr. Yuguang Xun, who is in the culture business in Yanji City, said, "There was almost no border between China and North Korea. Although there is little exchange due to their strained relations, I expect that they will be integrated into a single economic bloc soon." It doesn't seem like an exaggeration that China's active gestures of reconciliation towards North Korea will soon seen the light.