China's Dandong, Tonghua cities get inland port

A foundation-laying ceremony for an inland port in the city of Tonghua, Jilin province, was held early this month by the governments of Tonghua and Dandong, Liaoning province, reported China Daily.

The development, which cost US$45 million, will be open by the end of 2011.

The inland port is a leading project in the Yalu River Economic Development Zone and the first to be equipped with bonded facilities, a customs office, inspection building, container freight station and special railway.

The port is expected to be a distribution and transfer centre for the surrounding area, as far as Heilongjiang province.

"This project is ahead of many others and will increase cooperation between Dandong and Tonghua, and be a breakthrough in regional cooperation", said Dandong's Mayor Zhao Liansheng.

Dandong and Tonghua are adjacent to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and can benefit from the railway network of northeastern China. A complete transport system of railways and highways connecting the port will be in place next year. This is expected to give Dandong, the nearest city with access to the sea out of 13 cities in the eastern part of Northeast China, a greater edge.

Dandong is the largest centre for trade with the DPRK – about 70 percent of the China-DPRK business transactions go through there.

In recent years, there have been a lot of construction activities around Dandong – four railways, four expressways, two seaports, and one international airport.

It is a major coastal city in the Northeast, with high-speed railways to Shenyang and Dalian, as well as expressways to Tonghua and Haicheng.
(Source:www.cargonewsasia.com)