xizhimen
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Welcome To Yanbian, China’s Flourishing “Third Korea”
Sometimes called the "third Korea," the Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture plays a particular role in the complicated relationship between China and the two Koreas: This Chinese territory in the Jilin province, a bit larger than Belgium, is home to a significant population of Korean origin whose presence dates back to the Qing dynasty. At the end of the 19th century, the empire decided to regulate the colonies of Korean farmers, hoping to block Russian progress. They now represent a major part of the 2 million Chinese of Korean origin. And thanks to their dynamism, they have turned Yabian into one the most urbanized regions in northeast Chinese. More than half of the 800,000 residents of Yanji, the capital of Yanbian, has a Korean background.
A mini Seoul
Since the policy of openness launched by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979, Yanbian has prospered thanks to its relationship with South Korea. Chinese-Korean families started very early sending their relatives to work in the Yanbian's factories and services, and most of those who live in Seoul’s Chinatown are Chinese people of Korean origin. Korea's economic success in the 1990s and the popularity of South Korean culture in China drove the most dynamic of these migrant workers to return to Yanji and open restaurants and businesses, turning the autonomous region into a mini Seoul on Chinese soil. As for the young Chinese-Korean graduates from Yanbian, major Korean companies with established factories on the Chinese Shandong coast aggressively recruit them.
On the other hand, the proximity with North Korea is a source of frustration and false hopes for Yanbian residents: The border is still a dead end, as there is only a handful of much-regulated frontier posts between China and North Korea. The Tumen River, narrow and shallow, remains the crossing point for most North Korean refugees. Dandong, the large Chinese border city to the west, serves as the main logistical corridor for cross-border business.
But Cui Zhehao, a Chinese-Korean economist from the University of Yanbian, says the special North Korean economic zone of Rajin-Sonbong, on the other side of the border, has suffered less from the deterioration of relations between China and North Korea than the rest of the country. "North Koreans are trying to make Rajin-Sonbong adopt a Chinese model and, for that, they depend on the presence of the Chinese and its economic support," he says. "As for China, it needs an access to the ocean. So, on both sides, there are many reasons to cooperate."
Sometimes called the "third Korea," the Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture plays a particular role in the complicated relationship between China and the two Koreas: This Chinese territory in the Jilin province, a bit larger than Belgium, is home to a significant population of Korean origin whose presence dates back to the Qing dynasty. At the end of the 19th century, the empire decided to regulate the colonies of Korean farmers, hoping to block Russian progress. They now represent a major part of the 2 million Chinese of Korean origin. And thanks to their dynamism, they have turned Yabian into one the most urbanized regions in northeast Chinese. More than half of the 800,000 residents of Yanji, the capital of Yanbian, has a Korean background.
A mini Seoul
Since the policy of openness launched by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979, Yanbian has prospered thanks to its relationship with South Korea. Chinese-Korean families started very early sending their relatives to work in the Yanbian's factories and services, and most of those who live in Seoul’s Chinatown are Chinese people of Korean origin. Korea's economic success in the 1990s and the popularity of South Korean culture in China drove the most dynamic of these migrant workers to return to Yanji and open restaurants and businesses, turning the autonomous region into a mini Seoul on Chinese soil. As for the young Chinese-Korean graduates from Yanbian, major Korean companies with established factories on the Chinese Shandong coast aggressively recruit them.
On the other hand, the proximity with North Korea is a source of frustration and false hopes for Yanbian residents: The border is still a dead end, as there is only a handful of much-regulated frontier posts between China and North Korea. The Tumen River, narrow and shallow, remains the crossing point for most North Korean refugees. Dandong, the large Chinese border city to the west, serves as the main logistical corridor for cross-border business.
But Cui Zhehao, a Chinese-Korean economist from the University of Yanbian, says the special North Korean economic zone of Rajin-Sonbong, on the other side of the border, has suffered less from the deterioration of relations between China and North Korea than the rest of the country. "North Koreans are trying to make Rajin-Sonbong adopt a Chinese model and, for that, they depend on the presence of the Chinese and its economic support," he says. "As for China, it needs an access to the ocean. So, on both sides, there are many reasons to cooperate."
