A city on the border with North Korea and Russia is becoming one of China’s fastest-growing processing hubs, with seafood from the two neighbors being processed and ultimately shipped to the U.S., Europe and United Arab Emirates, among other locations.
Authorities in Hunchun – a city in the ethnic Korean region of Yanbian – have been highlighting a record 51 percent year-on-year increase in overseas sales in 2016, to a total of CNY 6.6 billion (USD 958 million, EUR 899 million). Some 58 processors, including major firms from more traditional processing hubs, have operations in Hunchun, as well as 112 firms active in seafood trading. Key species are shrimp, crab and shellfish.
Isolated by international sanctions, North Korea nonetheless ships much of its crustaceans and shellfish to China as a source of hard currency. Likewise, North Korean businesses use China as a gateway to the outside world – several restaurants operated in Beijing by the North Korean government generate significant revenues for Pyongyang.
