New Yalu River Bridge Between China and North Korea Officially Opens After 12-Year Wait
DANDONG, Liaoning — Xinhua reported that the New Yalu River Bridge between China and North Korea officially opened on the morning of October 15, with a joint opening ceremony held the same day and Xinhua photographers filing pictures from the scene. CCTV News had reported a day earlier that the two sides had agreed on the October 15 opening and a joint ceremony. CNN reported that trucks decorated with the two countries' flags crossed the bridge during the ceremony.
The cable-stayed bridge links Dandong in China's Liaoning Province with Sinuiju in North Korea's North Pyongan Province. It is about 3 kilometres long, with a 636-metre main span and four lanes in both directions. Construction began around late 2010 to 2011, and the Chinese side was completed in 2014 at a reported cost of about 2.2 billion yuan. The opening was then delayed for about 12 years because connecting roads and customs and border facilities on the North Korean side remained unfinished. Reuters earlier reported satellite analysis showing the main structures of the North Korean customs facilities nearing completion in early September this year.
Xinhua described the bridge as an important interconnection facility that will further promote trade and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. Reported figures put China's exports to North Korea at about US$2.3 billion in 2025, up 25 percent year on year. Crossings between Dandong and Sinuiju have long carried the bulk of bilateral trade, previously relying mainly on the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, opened in 1943.
(Sources: Xinhua, CCTV News, CNN, Reuters)
Source: 新华社、央视新闻
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Ajew／CC BY-SA 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）
