CHANGCHUN, Sept. 5 (Xinhua)-- China, Russia, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have agreed to jointly launch a new regular cargo and passenger sea route linking China and Japan, a local official in northeast China told Xinhua on Tuesday.

    The route, which is expected to open early next year, will span a distance of about 800 sea miles from Hunchun, a major Chinese port city in northeast China's Jilin Province, to Niigata in Japanvia the Russian port of Zarubino and ROK's Sokcho.

    The Hunchun-Zarubino-Sokcho-Niigata route will be the only direct cargo and passenger transportation line among the four countries around the Sea of Japan, said Ren Puyu, vice mayor of Hunchun.

    The government of Hunchun, Russia's Primorsky Region Berkut Co.,Dongchun Shipping Limited Company of the ROK and Japan's Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia signed an agreement to develop the route in Changchun, the provincial capital of Jilin on Sunday, according to Ren.

    The opening of the new route would not only tighten the economic ties between China and Japan, the world's two largest economies. More importantly, it would greatly promote the regional economic development of Northeast Asia by improving transport between regions, said Yu Guozheng, an expert on Northeast Asia economic issues from the Changchun-based Northeast Normal University.

    A one-way trip along the new route takes one and half days, just one eighth of the current route starting from the port city of Dalian in Liaoning province, which is more than 1,000 kilometers from Hunchun.

    Currently, we have to first send the cargoes to Dalian by train or truck before they are shipped to Japan. With the new route, the cost for transportation will be greatly reduced, Said Ren.

    According to the agreement, China and Japan will be in charge of cargo-hunting, the ROK's shipping company will be the carrier and the Russian firm will deal with the customs procedures in Russia.

    "However, how much each side will invest for the joint venture has not been decided yet," said Ren, adding other Japanese ports, such as Tsuruga, Sakaiminato and Akita have also applied to be a Japanese destination of the route. Enditem