Jilin, the landlocked and struggling northeastern province, is in talks to use ports in neighbouring North Korea and Russia to ship goods to overseas markets in an effort to develop its economy.
Provincial governor Han Changfu said the scheme was a necessary step for the development of the Changchun-Jilin-Tumen economic development zone, called the Tumen River Area.
The State Council recently approved a plan to set up the zone in the eastern part of Jilin to encourage cross-border trade with North Korea and Russia and attract investment from Japan and South Korea in the northeast Asia region.
The cabinet said the Tumen River Area was significant to the mainland's long-term, broader opening-up strategy, adding that accelerating development of the area was another big step in opening up the country's coastal regions.
'We are negotiating with North Korea and Russia to explore co-operation in the development of the Tumen River Area,' Han said in Beijing yesterday.
The mainland already uses some ports in North Korea and Russia's far-east region to handle trade for its northeastern provinces.
Han said the zone would become an important portal connecting China and northeastern Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea and Mongolia, eventually becoming an economic powerhouse.