• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.307-330
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• 2017

This paper attempts to elaborate on features of cross-border interaction conducted on Dan-dong, the main city of China-North Korea trade. Through the deep interview with some trader or firms and also questionnaire survey, this paper can reveal the supremacy of informal or non-market mechanism in the cross-border trade and inter-firm linkages, and also trader and firm's rent-seeking behaviour. These features show the uniqueness of border regime between China and North Korea. Even though it is getting more porous than before, I argue that China keeps the stance toward quite controlled borderland. As the proof of this argument, I show that main tenet of China's bordland policies is the borderland stability rather than the development. The striking one is the 'Prosperous Borders, Wealthy Minorities Program(??富民行???)'. In spite of the program's title, its utmost purpose is to secure the 'borderland stability and territorial integrity' rather than to enhance the border's openness and borderland's development.