According to the Harbor Bureau in Hunchun, a city in northeast China's Jilin province, 600 tons of food were shipped to Shanghai through Hunchun in 2015. This is because, in addition to direct rail and intermodal freight transport, a third north-south food transportation channel has been opened.

Hunchun is located at the junction of China, Russia and the DPRK, less than 100 kilometers from the Rajin Port in the DPRK. Goods following this third route leave China through Hunchun and arrive at Rajin port, where they are shipped directly to southern Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Ningbo. In 2010, the goods transported by this route were limited to coal. Since last year, grains, timber and mineral powder are also being shipped along this route.

According to China's 2015 grain production report by the National Bureau of Statistics, the country's total grain output reached 621 million tons, of which grain from Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia made up 148 million tons. The food commodity rate and the share of grain per capita in Jilin province often rank first in the country.

"Currently, food transportation relies mainly on rail or intermodal transport. Intermodal transport means that the grains will be transported first by rail or truck to Yingkou Port and then shipped to Shanghai," said Wang Tao, director of Regulation Bureau of Jilin Grain Administration. Wang added, “In the long term, the third north-south food transportation route will have a bright prospect."