Launching a new transportation artery linking Russia with China

Moscow-Sana

Today, Russia officially opened the first express bridge linking it to China across the Amur River, through which freight traffic started between the two countries.

According to the Russian RIA Novosti agency, the two-lane express bridge extends for more than one kilometer and connects the Russian city of Blagovchensk with the Chinese city of Heihe, with a length of 1080 meters and a width of 11 meters.

The construction of the bridge, which cost 19 billion rubles of investment, began in 2016 and was completed in 2019, but restrictions imposed to combat the spread of the Corona virus in China led to the postponement of its opening in 2020.

The opening ceremony, which took place via video technology, was attended by officials from Russia and China, including Deputy Prime Minister and Russian President's Commissar for Far Eastern Affairs Yuri Trutnev, and Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua.

“Every day we talk about Russia’s shift to the East, but we cannot allow this transformation to be just talk,” Trutnev said during the opening, stressing the importance of building infrastructure facilities with China by expanding the railway network and building bridges.

In turn, the governor of the Amur region in the far east of Russia, Vasily Orlov, said: “I am sure that this bridge will become a visiting card for the cities of Blagovchensk and Heihe.”

It is scheduled to cross this bridge daily about 630 trucks, 164 buses and 68 cars, while allowing it to operate at its full capacity, noting that the trade exchange between the two countries rose last year by 35.8 percent to reach a record level that settled at 146.887 billion dollars.

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