North Korea and China have held a groundbreaking ceremony for repair work on road that will link the North’s Rajin and China’s Hunchun.

Sources in Hunchun said the Thursday morning ceremony shutdown traffic around the area. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan reportedly attended the event.

The sources added that Wang ranks above Commerce Minister Chen Deming, who attended the previous day’s groundbreaking ceremony for a joint development project on the island of Hwanggeumpyueong in the Yalu River.

China promised to repair the road when it secured exclusive rights to use the North Korean port of Rajin in 2008. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on the joint development of Hwanggeumpyeong and the Rajin area in December last year.