Chinese workers grab every minute of their short winter day along the Heilongjiang River building their part of the China-Russia Tongjiang Rail Bridge. Photo: IC

One year after tracklaying work was completed on the first China-Russia railway bridge across the Heilongjiang River, a source familiar with the construction progress told the Global Times that the bridge is expected to begin official operation as early as this month.

After years of delays, the official operation of the Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge that connects China and Russia will play a vital role in bilateral trade and cross-continent overland transport, analysts said. 

A source said the 7,194-meter bridge linking the city of Tongjiang in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province with Nizhneleninskoye in Russia's Far East could start operating this month, since all the preparations and auxiliary projects have been completed. 

However, the source stressed that an official announcement of the exact opening date has not been released. 

Construction began in 2014. In August 2021, when tracks were laid, the use of the bridge was delayed by a summer flood on the Heilongjiang River, also known as the Amur River in Russia.

Russia celebrated the completion of its section of the bridge in April, near the village of Nizhneleninskoye in the Jewish Autonomous Region, according to Russian news agency TASS.

A newly built facility for customs officers to conduct inspection and quarantine work was added on the Chinese side this year.

China and Russia have been building cross-border infrastructure in recent years to boost trade. 

The first China-Russia highway bridge, which stretches from Heihe, a border city in Heilongjiang, to the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk spanning the Heilongjiang River, opened to traffic in June.

Enhanced connections over the river come as Russia is looking at opportunities for increased exports from its Far East, and China is looking at ways to diversify its imports of key commodities such as iron ore. 

The railway bridge could play a vital role. It will also shorten the trip between Heilongjiang and Moscow by 809 kilometers and save 10 hours of travel time, compared with the trip through the Suifenhe border crossing.

Export items could also include coal, minerals, fertilizer and wood products to China.

In the first seven months of this year, China's trade with Russia rose 29 percent year-on-year to $97.71 billion, accelerating 1.8 percentage points from the first half of the year.

Global Times