Special to WorldTribune.com

Compiled by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com

China has scored a major strategic victory by concluding a $3-billion deal with Pyongyang to lease the Rason Port along the northern stretch of the Chinese-North Korean border for 50 years.

According to reports from Beijing and South Korean media, China is to build within the Rason Special Economic Zone a large airport, enlarge and modernize three piers to accommodate ships up to 70,000 tons, construct a coal-fired power plant, and build a railway line connecting Rason with China’s Jilin Province. In exchange, China assumes virtual control over key naval and maritime facilities in Rason for the next five decades.

China has been eager to secure a foothold in the area for years. The shallow but navigable Tumen River defines the China-North Korea border in the region, but the river’s last 11 miles before reaching the sea is shared by Russia and North Korea, blocking China’s access to the sea.

In July 2011, then-North Korean ruler Kim Jong-Il granted permission for Chinese cargo ships to disembark from Rason.

This shortens the shipping distance of Jilin’s cargo ships loaded with coal to reach coal-hungry Eastern China, including Shanghai.

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  cargo ships, China wins 50-year control of strategic N. Korea port in $3-billion deal, Jilin Province, Kim Jong-Il, Rason Port, Rason Special Economic Zone, Tumen River