BEIJING IN TALKS WITH NORTH KOREA ON TWO ECONOMIC ZONES

BEIJING – China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) says it has entered a third round of talks with North Korea on working plans to develop two economic zones on the North Korean side of the border. MOFCOM said the two sides will follow the principle of "government-guided, enterprise-based, market-oriented, mutually beneficial" co-operation in developing the economic zones. One is in Rason, near the tripartite border with Russia, and the other on the Hwangumpyong and Wihwa Islands in the Yalu River, adjacent to Dandong, Liaoning and the North Korean border town of Sinuiju.