New China-DPRK border bridge over Yalu River opens to traffic

SHENYANG -- The new China-DPRK Yalu River bridge officially opened to traffic on Thursday, with both sides jointly holding an opening ceremony on this cross-border artery.

The cable-stayed bridge over the Yalu River serves as a cross-border transport link between the city of Dandong in Northeast China's Liaoning province and the city of Sinuiju in North Pyongan province in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The double-pylon and double-cable-plane bridge features a 28.5-meter-wide deck designed with four lanes for two-way traffic, while its water navigation clearance is designed for vessels of up to the 3,000-ton class.

The new bridge will further facilitate trade and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday.

China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, and the new bridge is an important facility for connectivity between the two countries, Mao noted at a regular press briefing.

Dandong boasts China's largest border trade port with the DPRK. Before the new road bridge, the Yalu River Bridge, also known as the China-DPRK Friendship Bridge, served as a combined road-rail bridge. The old one, however, could only accommodate trucks weighing no more than 20 tons for one-way road traffic.

China and the DPRK in 2010 agreed to build a new road bridge downstream from the old one.