Originally published on January 3, 2014

China will open a high-speed rail service to the North Korean border in August 2015.

The line, which has been under construction since 2010, will run 207 km from Shenyang to Dandong at the North Korean border, shortening what is now a three hour and thirty-five minute train ride to an hour.

Eighty percent of trade between China and North Korea passes through Dandong.

China is actively developing its special economic zones in North Korea, despite voting in favor of tightening United Nations sanctions against North Korea after it conducted its third nuclear test last year.

To strengthen economic ties between the two countries, China has already built a bridge across the Yalu River from Dandong into North Korea.

Two other high-speed trains, one running from Dalian to Dandong and the other from Jilin to the border city of Hunchun, are also expected to begin operating in 2015 or 2016.

A high-speed train from Beijing to Dandong that is also under development is expected to shorten the current 13-hour rail journey between those two cities to four hours.

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