New bridge to open between China and North Korea in latest sign of nations’ closer ties

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A new bridge connecting China and North Korea is scheduled to open on Thursday following more than a decade of delay, in the latest indication of strengthening relations between the two nations.

According to reports from China’s official news agency, Xinhua, both countries will host a ceremony to inaugurate the New Yalu River Bridge. The four-lane, 3-kilometre (1.8-mile) crossing will link the north-eastern Chinese city of Dandong with the North Korean city of Sinuiju.

The structure initially was expected to enter use in 2014 after China apparently finished building access roads, customs facilities, and other related infrastructure on its side. However, the date passed with no indication of an opening and without North Korea doing corresponding works on its side.

At that time, it prompted an unusually sharp report in the Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, which quoted Dandong residents expressing frustration over delays in what they had hoped would be an economic boon for their border city.

A lack of substantial work on the North Korean side prompted speculation that North Korea was wary of an increase in economic dependence or was unhappy with China voting for United Nations resolutions toughening international sanctions on the North over its nuclear program. Some observers said North Korea and China also differed over the location of the bridge.

The new link is expected to lessen the burden on an existing yet aging bridge on the Dandong-Sinuiju route, which handles more than 70 per cent of official trade between the two countries. The old bridge built in 1937 carries a railway line as well as cars and trucks, but vehicle traffic can move only one way at a time.

The South Korean government said last year there were at least 17 active road and rail links across the porous North Korea-China border stretching more than 1,400 kilometres (870 miles).

The new bridge’s opening will likely boost bilateral trade and enhance logistical efficiency gradually. But in the short term, trade won’t likely result in a sharp increase in Chinese exports to North Korea as Beijing would take Pyongyang’s interests into consideration to some extent, according to a recent report by Gyubeom Kim, an expert at Seoul’s state-run Institute for National Security Strategy.

North Korea’s export of processed goods, food products, cosmetics and alcoholic beverages to China could increase, Kim said.

The bridge’s opening comes about a month after North Korea and Russia opened a 1-kilometre (0.6-mile) road bridge over the Tumen River as part of their efforts to cement relations.

Experts say Chinese officials likely felt uneasy about the opening of the North Korea-Russia bridge, which the Russian government said would allow daily passage of up to 300 vehicles through a newly built border crossing point.

The North Korea-China bridge is much bigger and likely capable of carrying round-the-clock, two-way traffic including containers and heavy cargo trucks, according to Jeong Eun-i, an analyst from South Korea’s Institute for National Unification.

China has long been North Korea’s biggest trading partner and economic pipeline. But in past years, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has prioritised Moscow, sending thousands of troops and conventional weapons to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, apparently in exchange for military and economic assistance.

Kim has recently drawn closer to China with the apparent intent to improve the economy and build a front against the United States. China, for its part, wants to restore its unique influence over North Korea. Last year, about 98% of North Korea’s external trade was with China.

The bridge’s opening has been anticipated since Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Pyongyang in June for a meeting with Kim. During their summit, Xi expressed Beijing’s willingness to expand bilateral cooperation in trade, agriculture, construction and technology, while Kim described ties with China as a top strategic priority.

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