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Dandong Port in northeast China's Liaoning Province is taking steps to becoming a new trading hub in northeast Asia with plans to open a major new route to Japan and establish a sea freight company.

At the on-going China Dandong Yalu River International Tourist Festival 2002, the port authorities of Dandong signed a letter of intent with Japan's Tasumichi International to open a new sea route to Kobe and jointly establish a container shipping company.

The new route, passing by the major Japanese cities of Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe, is expected to open at the end of October. It will offer a more convenient route to those enterprises trading with Japan.

Dandong mayor Jiang Zuoyong said that with the acceleration of economic globalization and regional economic group, Dandong port should make the most of its geographical advantage and strive to be one of the major ports in the area.

Dandong Port has a total of five berths, of which two are for 30,000 to 50,000 dwt (deadweight tons) vessels and three are deep water berths for 10,000 dwt vessels.

Over the past three years, Dandong Port has witnessed an annual rise of 50 percent in the freight turnover, one of the fastest growth rates in China.

Its designed annual throughput has reached a record 4.25 million tons and the port has opened sea routes to more than 70 ports in 30 countries, including the newly opened route to Japan's Naoetsu and a route to Inchon in the Republic of Korea (ROK).

A Japanese businessman, who only gave his surname Yomada, said,"I know Dandong Port is playing a more important role in the northeast Asia. Its newly opened sea routes made my transportation costs drop remarkably.

"The local government of Dandong city has created a favorable investment environment for foreign investors so I feel blessed for my original choice of investing in Dandong," he added.

Dandong city, separated from the Korean Peninsula by the Yalu River, is the country's biggest border city.

The International Tourism Festival has seen 36 projects signed, with a total investment of 150.99 million US dollars.