China’s official English newspaper says China will gain access to a sea route in the East Sea by taking part in the development of North Korea’s Rajin Port.

The Global Times said that a Chinese company invested 26 million yuan in 2009 to rebuild the pier it will lease from the North at Rajin.

The company is building a warehouse measuring 40-thousand square meters at the North Korean port.

According to the newspaper, it currently takes three or four days to ship goods from Hunchun City in China’s Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture to Japan via the use of standard routes.

The shipping period will be shortened to ten hours once China begins using the North Korean port.