Disruption of the North Korea-China Trade Expo... Impact of COVID-19 Spread

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seung-jin] The North Korea-China online international trade expo, which was scheduled to be held in China at the end of this month, has been disrupted due to COVID-19.

On the 21st, the Guomengwan Hoshi Trade Zone in Dandong City, Liaoning Province, China, announced on its website that "due to the spread of COVID-19 in Joseon (North Korea), the video consultation meeting scheduled to be held from the end of this month will be postponed."

This North Korea-China online international trade expo is jointly hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), a Chinese foreign trade and investment support organization, and the Joseon International Exhibition Company under North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Trade. It opened on the 28th of last month and will run until June 28.

Agricultural, fishery, light industry, and medical products produced by Chinese and North Korean companies are being exhibited and sold online. Chinese company products are introduced for two months through North Korea's online shopping mall Manmulsang and the trade site Seongseong, and will remain exposed on the shopping mall for one year after the expo ends.

Originally, the organizers planned to hold a total of 16 online video consultation sessions over two months from the end of this month across eight industries to promote product export/import and attract investors. However, normal progress has become difficult due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, this North Korea-China expo was held for the first time in seven years since 2016. From 2012 to 2015, North Korea and China held the comprehensive expo called the "Joseon-China (North Korea-China) Economic, Trade, Culture, and Tourism Expo" every autumn in Dandong, the largest North Korea trade hub in China.

However, when North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2016, China joined the UN sanctions against North Korea, causing relations between North Korea and China to cool and the event to be suspended.