The opening of a new railway linking 13 cities in Northeast China is expected to greatly boost local economies and make Dandong one of the major ports in China.

The 1,380-kilometer railway from Hegang in Heilongjiang province to Dandong in Liaoning province - and also extends all the way to Liaoning's southern port of Dalian - became operational on Sept 26.

Passing through all three northeastern provinces, it skirts China's borders with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Russia.

Covering a combined 785,000 sq km, the 13 cities along the line - including Hegang, Jiamusi, Mudanjiang, Yanji, Baishan, Tonghua, Dandong and Dalian - account for 31.2 percent of the total area of Northeast China. Together, the cities have a population of 24.8 million, 22.8 percent of the total in the region.

Chen Lizhu, a Dandong City Development and Reform Commission official in charge of the railway industry, said the new line will sharply reduce transport costs for businesses.

Paralleling the existing Harbin-Dalian railway to the west, it will help keep balanced development in the region, he noted.

Chen said the railway's Tonghua-Dandong section alone can carry 2.16 million passengers and 16 million tons of cargo each year.

"The railway has connections with the dozens of berths for both bulk cargo and containers at Dandong, making the port the most convenient to access to the sea in Northeast China," Chen said.

"In the next few years, the throughput at Dandong Port can easily increase to 100 million tons due to huge demand for grain, ore, iron, coal and equipment transport in the area," said Li Xiang, a manager at Dandong Port Group.

Li said a conservative estimate puts the port's annual throughput at 50 million tons of iron and ore, 10 million tons of grain and food and 40 million tons of coal.

He predicted the port will also handle 1.5 million containers a year.

"Using Dandong Port for exports and imports, enterprises in the region can save more than 6 billion yuan in logistic costs each year" due to the shorter distance, Li added.

"For instance, the distance from Mudanjiang and Jiamusi - both in Heilongjiang province - to Dandong Port will be cut by 122 km and 292 km respectively," Li said.

He also noted that the railway will also help the port extend its serviced hinterland into the Far East region of Russia, where there are rich resources of petroleum, coal and timber.

To consolidate its presence in the further inland, the Dandong Port Group has already established more than 30 dry ports in Northeast China offering comprehensive services including storage, transportation, loading and discharging, packaging, transshipment, customs declaration, inspection as well as tax declaration, according to Li.

Liang Qidong, a researcher at Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said the railway can benefit 18 million residents living along the railway.

Contact the writers at zhuchengpei@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/07/2012 page18)