China-North Korea New Yalu River Bridge Set to Open Oct 15

The New Yalu River Bridge will open on Thursday (Oct 15), Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported, with both countries set to hold a joint ceremony to mark the debut. The four-lane vehicle bridge stretches 3,026 metres and links China's northeastern border city of Dandong with North Korea's Sinuiju.

China finished its half of the structure back in 2014, but Pyongyang left its approach roads and customs facilities uncompleted for years as relations cooled over North Korea's nuclear tests and the UN sanctions that followed. The project then sat idle for more than a decade as ties remained strained.

The opening signals another step in warming Beijing-Pyongyang relations, coming just weeks after North Korea inaugurated its first road bridge with Russia. North Korea sealed its borders during the COVID-19 pandemic, and train services between the two neighbours only restarted in March after a six-year halt.

The new span is intended to ease pressure on the decades-old Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, which once carried regular passenger trains but has limited capacity. Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean-born researcher, told AFP that crossings over the Yalu had until now been limited in scale, but predicted hundreds of vehicles could use the new bridge daily, calling it a potential conduit for Chinese goods that could significantly boost North Korea's economy.

China remains North Korea's largest trading partner and a vital source of diplomatic, economic and political support. Its exports to North Korea climbed to a six-year high of US$2.3 billion last year, a 25 per cent increase over the previous year, though still far below levels before the 2017 UN sanctions. Analysts say exchanges with China tend to involve the civilian goods North Korea needs most, unlike its trade with Russia, which largely centres on military supplies.

South Korea's unification ministry told AFP it is "closely monitoring" the situation around the bridge's opening. North Korea has not yet resumed issuing tourism visas to Chinese citizens, who once made up the bulk of its overseas visitors.