China arranging investment deal for North Korea

China is arranging a huge foreign investment deal to revive North Korea's faltering economy amid an international drive to coax Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks, a report said yesterday.

Beijing is helping the communist state obtain more than $10 billion (Dh36.72bn) in investment from Chinese banks and multinational firms, the South's Yonhap news agency said.

The deal was discussed a week ago when North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il met China's senior communist party official Wang Jiarui, it said. A North Korean body, known as the Korea Taepung International Investment Group, plans to conclude the deal in March, Yonhap said, adding that Chinese capital would account for 60 per cent of total investments.

"China could provide humanitarian aid to help North Korea revive its economy before six-party talks resume," said Dongguk University professor Kim Yong-Hyun.

"However, any massive economic assistance or investments from China may come only after it gets strong commitment from North about denuclarisation."

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