A Japanese daily says China will break ground in May of next year on a project to build plants and logistics facilities on islands it has rented from North Korea.

The Asahi Shimbun daily says China is known to have purchased the rights to use two North Korean islands for 50 years. The two islands of Wihwa and Hwanggeumpyeong are located on the Yalu (Amnok) River in Sinuiju, a North Korean city bordering China.

China is also known to be holding talks with the North to extend the use of the islands to 100 years.

Under the plan, North Korea would relocate several thousand households living on the islands and would dispatch workers to the factories to be built on the islands.

Asahi says that North Korea, mired in economic woes, is seeking to spur development through Chinese investment but that its poor industrial infrastructure and social instability are standing in the way.