A ship loaded with cargo left the port of Rajin in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on June 11, bound ultimately for the city of Shanghai, which started off in the city of Hunchun, Jilin province, as the first move of its kind for Jilin after opening a cross-border transport line for domestic goods.

The ship handling the service is scheduled to make the trip every 10 days, according to Chu Tiecheng, vice-director of Hunchun's navigation bureau, who says that the cross-border service will cut the shipping distance, save time, cost less, and increase the efficiency of shipping from China's Northeast.

This transporting of Chinese goods via overseas ports is a direct result of the Jilin's opening up and improved relations with neighboring countries, and is good for local resource exports, in the case of minerals, grains, and timber to ports farther south, and the same is true of goods coming from the south.

The Jilin – DPRK route is just one of the improvements in Hunchun, Jilin transport, thanks to its position in the Northeast Asia economic circle, close to 10 large international seaports, such as Zarubino and Vladivostok, Russia, and Chongjin, also in DPRK. And the city also has four highway and railway lines to Russia and DPRK, with an annual cargo capacity of 2.1 million tons, and rail-sea lines to Japan, and South Korea as well. The city reopened a cargo line to Sokcho, in ROK, with a goal of 1-million tons of cargo annually and a 72-hour visa-free transit for 800,000 passengers annually.

The city has also improved its quarantine procedures for cross-border cargo, making clearances easier and faster, including automated sterilizing facilities and radioactivity inspections.

There is also a high-speed rail line connecting it with Changchun, the provincial capital, to be completed this year, and cuts the travel time to 2.5 hours, with the idea of linking industrial zones with cross-border transport via a network.