China-Russia cableway construction project launched on Heilong River

Construction of a cross-border cableway spanning the Heilong River, known as the Amur River in Russia, was launched on Thursday.

The project that links Heihe, a city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, and Blagoveshchensk in Russia's Amurskaya region started simultaneously on both sides of the river, and when completed, will become the first cross-border cableway in the world.

The cableway is designed to be 972 meters long with a total investment of 571 million yuan ($83 million), according to the local government.

It is designed for coaches running at speeds of 8 meters per second and will cut travel time to 10 minutes from 15 minutes. Each huge coach can carry 80 passengers.

It is expected to be completed in 2021 and achieve an annual transportation capacity of 6 million people.

In 2011, Heihe and the Amurskaya region started a range of cooperative projects in sectors including transportation, resources, culture and tourism.

After unremitting efforts from both sides, the Chinese and Russian governments signed the "cableway construction agreement" on Sept 3, 2015.

The project, in hope of boosting tourism in the region, will help achieve a 10 percent increase in inbound tourists, according to the local government.

At present, visitors take ferries or hovercraft to get across the border on warmer days and buses on the floating bridge built on the frozen river in winter.

"The cableway will become a safer and more convenient way for tourists to cross the Heilong River," said Qin Enting, Party chief of Heihe. "Passengers can also get a glimpse of the unique views of both cities."