Asian countries agree to set up Sea of Japan shipping route
Updated
China, Japan, Russia and South Korea have signed an agreement to set up an 800-nautical-mile joint shipping route around the Sea of Japan.
The service will run from Huichun, a key Chinese port on the Sea of Japan, to Niigata in Japan and then on to the Russian port of Zarubino and the South Korean port of Sokcho.
Trial operations will begin next month and the move is expected to boost trade and tourism in north east Asia.
Xinhua news agency says the route will be able to handle 15 thousand-tonne cargo vessels and passenger ships carrying as many as 500 people.
