After months of silence and inactivity at a new joint China-North Korea trade zone in Dandong, the project has suddenly sparked into life.

A first batch of imported North Korean goods was sent over from Sinuiju to the China-North Korea Border Trade Zone in Dandong’s New District on June 28. The same day the zone began processing ID cards that will allow Dandong’s 1.8 million people to spend up to 8,000 yuan (US$1,200) per day on North Korean products without paying import duty.