A Chinese businessman with big dreams for trade with the DPRK recently opened an exhibition for merchants looking to buy and sell North Korean products, a sign that he has had to scale back his ambitions after plans to establish a special economic zone in Sinuiju fell through due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The trader, whose North Korean passport lists his name as Ho Nyong, uploaded a video heralding the arrival of over a hundred new North Korean products into China last week on Chinese social media.

“The phenomenon of fake and shoddy products on social media platforms is serious,”