Containers loaded with wheat imported from Russia head to the port city of Heihe, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on October 20, 2021. Photo: VCG

Russia completed construction of its section of the first China-Russia railway bridge on Wednesday, which will be opened for traffic soon, marking a major progress in rail transport between the two countries.

The construction of the Russian section of the Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge was completed on Wednesday near the village of Nizhneleninskoye in the Jewish Autonomous Region, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Reports stated that the ceremony was attended by deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev. The official said Russia is to launch the railway, while waiting for Chinese partners to announce that China's section was ready as well.

The bridge is expected to open within a month, the report said.

Rail customs will be a key point in Russia's new export channel, promoting production and the formation of a new logistics center in the Far East and improve transport in the region, according to a Chinese report by Russian news agency Sputnik, citing the same official.

The new bridge is significant for the development of China-Russia economic cooperation, against the backdrop of growing global challenges, the report said.

The 7,194-meter-long bridge connects the two giant countries across the Heilongjiang River, also known as the Amur River in Russia, linking the city of Tongjiang in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province with Nizhneleninskoye in Russia's Far East.

Coming at a time when bilateral trade between China and Russia is expanding rapidly, the bridge is expected to play an important role in enhancing economic and trade exchanges between the two countries, experts noted.

The Sputnik report said that Russia plans to export iron ore, coal, minerals, fertilizer and wood products to China on the new railway is launched.

Trade and economic cooperation between China and Russia reached $146.8 billion, exceeding the $140-billion mark for the first time in 2021, with exports to Russia growing steadily for six consecutive years, according to China's General Administration of Customs.

Russia continues to maintain its position as China's top source of energy imports, accounting for 65.3 percent of China's total imports from the country.