First China-Russia railway bridge will complement ‘no limits’ relationship by boosting trade, slashing delivery times

Name: China says ‘no limits’ in cooperation with Russia
Uploaded: 2022-04-14T13:00:15.000Z
Duration: 1 min 45 s
Description: China says ‘no limits’ in cooperation with Russia

Update on project comes as Beijing and Moscow are under mounting international pressure following the latter’s invasion of Ukraine

Bridge is expected to be fully operational by August, cutting the train journey from Heilongjiang to Moscow by more than 800km and 10 hours

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The first cross-border railway bridge between China and Russia is expected to be fully operational by August. Photo: Xinhua

Ji Siqi

Published: 9:00pm, 14 Apr 2022

The Chinese side of the first cross-border railway bridge to Russia is running drills to ensure that upcoming tests go smoothly, keeping the project on track to fully open in a few months, according to official statements this week.

With an annual cargo capacity of up to 21 million tonnes, the railway bridge – first proposed back in 2007 and completed in August – is expected to significantly boost cross-border trade between the neighbours, according to state media reports on both sides.

The week’s update comes as both China and Russia are under mounting international pressure following the latter’s invasion of Ukraine and Beijing’s refusal to condemn Moscow or support Western-led sanctions against it.

“The bridge … is of great significance in terms of promoting the high-quality development of China-Russia trade,” says the online notice by officials in Tongjiang city, Heilongjiang province.

Costing US$355 million, the 2.2km (1.37-mile) railway bridge connects the countries across the Heilong River – known as the Amur in Russia – from Tongjiang to Nizhneleninskoye in the eastern Jewish Autonomous Oblast of Russia.

Tongjiang’s notice said the drill was carried out on Sunday ahead of test runs involving China-bound freight trains, and the focus was on inspections, sterilisation and reloading. The Chinese section, spanning 1,886 metres, comprises most of the bridge’s length.

“The coordination, command and emergency response capabilities of various departments have been further improved, the safety-assurance level of the trains has been improved, and sufficient preparations have been made for future tests of freight trains,” it added.

The bridge will mainly be used to transport coal, iron ore, timber and mineral fertilisers from Russia to China, according to Russia’s state-owned Sputnik News.

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China says ‘no limits’ in cooperation with Russia