Hunchun

For the archaeological site in Peru, see Wich'un.
Hunchun
珲春市 · 혼춘시
County-level city

A street in Hunchun
Hunchun

Location in Jilin province

Coordinates: 42°52′N 130°22′E / 42.867°N 130.367°E / 42.867; 130.367Coordinates: 42°52′N 130°22′E / 42.867°N 130.367°E / 42.867; 130.367
Country China
Province Jilin
Prefecture Yanbian
Seat Xin'an Subdistrict
Area
 • Total 4,938 km2 (1,907 sq mi)
Elevation 41 m (135 ft)
Population
 • Total 220,000
 • Density 45/km2 (120/sq mi)
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code 133300
Hunchun
Simplified Chinese 珲春市
Traditional Chinese 琿春市
Chinese Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl 혼춘시
South Korean name
Hangul 훈춘 시

Hunchun is a county-level city in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, far eastern Jilin province, Northeast China. It borders North Korea (North Hamgyong province) and Russia (Primorsky Krai), has over 250,000 inhabitants, and covers 5,145 square kilometers.[1] It was capital of Balhae/Bohai Kingdom between 785-793 as "Dongyang".

The city is located near the point of junction of the borders of China, Russia, and North Korea; provided with an observation platform, it is a popular tourist attraction.[2]

Administrative divisions

Hunchun has four subdistricts, four towns, and five townships.[3]

Subdistricts:

Towns:

Townships:

Economy

Since the early 1990s, the Chinese government invested a lot in transforming Hunchun into a regional economic center. On 9 March 1992 the Chinese parliament approved to set up Hunchun Border Economic Cooperation Zone. The national government and Jilin provincial government have invested in succession over four billion yuan in Hunchun through the 1990s.[4]

On 16 March 2013, a joint agreement to export textiles to North Korea was announced.[5][6] The textiles would be made into up to 8,000 shirts in North Korea and exported back to China.[5][7]

Hunchun Border Economic Cooperation Zone was approved to be national-level border economic cooperation zone in 1992, with a planning area of 24 km2. In 2002 and 2001, Hunchun Export Processing Zone and Huichun Sino-Russia Trade Zone was set up in it. Being located in the junction of China, Russia, and Korea, it enjoys a strategic location. The infrastructure is available. The city focuses on the development of sea food processing, electronic product manufacture, bio-pharmacy, textile industry and other industries.[8]

Hunchun Export Processing Zone is located in 5 km2 area in Hunchun Border Economic Cooperation Zone. Its planned area is 2.44 km2. It enjoys good infrastructure and policies as its parent zone does.[9]

Transport

In the early 1990s, Jilin province government constructed a railway and improved the highway to Hunchun. The Tumen River Bridge connects between Hunchun and the North Korean town of Wonjeong (Korean: 원정). The bridge was built during the Japanese occupation in 1938. In 2010 the bridge was renovated as part of an agreement between North Korea and China to modernize the Rason port in North Korea.[10] In addition, a new railway line was constructed which links Hunchun and Makhalino (a station on the Ussuriysk-Khasan line, 41 km before Khasan) in Russia and began operating in February 2000.[11] Hunchun port is 42 km from Posyet and 63 km from Zarubino port towns of Russia.

A 250-km/h high-speed passenger rail line from Jilin to Hunchun via Tumen (吉图珲铁路客运专线) is under construction.[12] Construction work started in January 2011, and service is expected to start at the end of September 2015.[13] The railway has been described as "Dongbei's most beautiful railway" (due to the terrain it runs through) and "the fastest way to Vladivostok" (4 hours by train from Shenyang to Hunchun, plus 4 hours by bus from Hunchun to Vladivostok).[14] Reflecting the border location of the city, the new train station has its sign in four languages: Chinese, Korean, Russian, and English.[2]

References

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