The first road bridge between Russia and China officially opened. The bridge, which is just over one kilometer long, connects the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk with the Chinese city of Heihe https://t.co/VIiRtlxYpE pic.twitter.com/H14WIBLVX0
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 10, 2022
If you want to develop a glorious Sino-Friendship, you need to focus on bridge-building.
Sino-Friendship is all about building bridges.
Russia and China opened a new cross-border bridge in the far east on Friday which they hope will further boost trade as Moscow reels from sweeping Western sanctions imposed over its actions in Ukraine.
The bridge linking the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk to the Chinese city of Heihe across the Amur river – known in China as Heilongjiang – is just over one kilometre long and cost 19 billion roubles ($342 million), the RIA news agency reported.
Amid a firework display, freight trucks from both ends crossed the two-lane bridge that was festooned with flags in the colours of both countries, video footage of the opening showed.
Russian authorities said the bridge would bring Moscow and Beijing closer together by boosting trade after they announced a “no limits” partnership in February, shortly before President Vladimir Putin sent his forces into Ukraine.
“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.
China wants to deepen practical cooperation with Russia in all areas, Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua said at the opening.
Russia’s Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev said the bridge would help boost bilateral annual trade to more than 1 million tonnes of goods.
Russia-China trade is exploding, nothing is happening to the Russian economy. Russia and China are effectively fusing as one geopolitical entity.
I don’t know why you would want this to happen, but hey – that’s why I don’t work at the State Department: I just don’t get it.
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