Without a seaport, Hunchun in northeast China's Jilin Province has still become a burgeoning seafood center in Northeast Asia.
Located at the junction of China, Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the city is 71 km away from the Russian port Zarubino.
In 2016, two land ports in Hunchun were approved as designated ports for seafood import. The opening of a freight route linking the city with Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and the Zarubino Port also helped cut the cost of seafood transportation.
Wang Jindong, who has been engaged in seafood trade for about 20 years, has seized the business opportunities in the city.
According to Wang, before the opening of the route, Russian king crabs had to be transferred to China via the Republic of Korea and Japan, which was costly and affected their quality. Now the king crabs caught in the deep sea of Russia can be transported to Hunchun the next day.
Since the beginning of this year, over 5,000 tonnes of king crabs have entered China through Hunchun.
Hunchun has accelerated the pace of building itself into a marine economy hub. It has also become an epitome of the accelerated development of maritime economic cooperation in Northeast Asia.
The second Northeast Asia Regional Cooperation Roundtable, a major sideline event of the ongoing 13th China-Northeast Asia Expo, has issued an initiative, calling on local governments in the region to connect their market resources and jointly build a Northeast Asia maritime economic cooperation community.
The 13th China-Northeast Asia Expo is being held from Sept. 23 to 27 in Jilin's provincial capital Changchun.
Produced by Xinhua Global Service
