N. Korean delegates visit Chinese trade port

— North Korea’s ruling party delegation visited Ningbo, a major Chinese trade port in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, this week apparently in search of opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation, sources in Beijing said Thursday.

The North’s delegation, led by Pak Thae-song, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, is scheduled to wind up its 11-day itinerary in China after the trip to Ningbo and return to Pyongyang later Thursday, the sources said.

The North Korean members of the so-called “friendship visiting group,” accompanied by Wang Yajun, assistant minister of International Depart- ment of the Communist Party of China, arrived in Ningbo Wednesday for meetings with municipal and provincial officials, they noted.

“The North Koreans’ visit to Ningbo appears to be intended for the revitalization of bilateral economic cooperation in the future. Ningbo is a Chinese port that could be linked to North Korea’s Rajin for bilateral trade,” said a source.

In early 2017, a Chinese maritime transport company resumed services on a land-sea container shipping route linking Hunchun of China to Rajin and Ningbo after a five-year lapse.

The latest visit by North Koreans therefore triggered speculation that a new Chinese-North Korean trade route may open.