Russia and China open new cross-border bridge amid deepening ties

It is expected to cut 1,500 kilometres off the westward route for Chinese goods

A bridge connecting Russia and China across the Amur river, known as the Heilongjiang in China, opened on Friday.

It links the eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk to the northeastern Chinese city of Heihe and is expected to help facilitate trade between the two countries.

The new route will cut the distance of Chinese goods to western Russia by 1,500 kilometres, the construction company behind the Russian side of the bridge told Reuters.

Construction work started in 2016 and the structure cost 19 billion roubles ($342 million), reported the Russian RIA news agency. It was finished in May 2020 but the opening was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

At the bridge's inauguration ceremony officials from both countries presented it as part of deepening relations between Moscow and Beijing.

"In today's divided world, the Blagoveshchensk-Heihe bridge between Russia and China carries a special symbolic meaning," said Yuri Trutnev, the Kremlin representative in the Russian Far East.

Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev was quoted in Russian media as saying the bridge would increase Russia and China’s bilateral trade to one million tonnes of goods per year.

Moscow has sought to deepen its ties with Beijing amid the diplomatic fallout from its invasion of Ukraine in February.

China has condemned western sanctions on Russia and called for a ceasefire.

- with inputs from agencies