China-NK cross-border exchange warms up as bilateral relationship strengthens

Economic and trade links across the China-North Korea border shows that there has been a significant enhancement and a remarkable sign of warming-up to the bilateral relationship recently, an international relations expert said over the weekend.

North Korea has resumed flights between Pyongyang and Dalian, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, after a yearlong hiatus, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency on Saturday.

“There will be such flights every Thursday and Sunday,” the report said.

“This marks the first time for a North Korean airplane to fly between the two cities since November 2006.”

“Amid other signs, the resumption of the flights signals improving ties between the two countries,” said Lü Chao, researcher with the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

“Civil trade and economic exchanges have increased significantly in the past few months, and travel to North Korea has also shown dramatic growth,” Lü told the Global Times on Sunday.

“People have even had difficulty booking train tickets to North Korea recently,” he said.

The Liaoning provincial government also raised the proposal to establish the Dandong Special Economic Zone on August 27, according to ln.gov.cn, the local government’s official website.

China-North Korea bilateral ties have also shown signs of warming-up after the long chill brought about by North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests, Lü said.

As a friendly neighbor, China stands ready to consolidate its friendship with North Korea and support the country in improving its economy and people’s livelihoods, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said on September 10.

“Even under restrictions set by UN sanctions on North Korea, tourism and trade across the border have shown improvements recently, which means there has been a trend of ties warming-up,” Lü noted.