Li calls for closer China-DPRK ties at bridge opening

The new Yalu River bridge linking China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will become a new landmark symbolizing the traditional friendship between the two nations, Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday, expressing the hope that Beijing and Pyongyang will seize the opportunity presented by the project to continue enhancing connectivity and exploring potential for cooperation in border areas.

He made the remarks in a video address delivered to a joint inauguration ceremony held for the bridge, which connects Dandong in Northeast China's Liaoning province with Sinuiju in the DPRK's North Pyongan Province.

Pak Thae-song, premier of the DPRK Cabinet, also delivered a video address to the event.

Li described the bridge as a major cross-border infrastructure project advanced with the joint care and support of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea.

China and the DPRK are friendly socialist neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, Li said, adding that under the strategic guidance of the top leaders of the two parties and countries, bilateral relations are entering a new stage and opening a new chapter.

During his state visit to the DPRK in June, Xi said that no matter how the international situation evolves, the firm stance of China's Party and government on highly valuing the China-DPRK traditional friendship will not change; the firm support for Kim in leading the DPRK's socialist cause will not change; and the firm commitment to safeguarding the common interests of the two countries and preserving a favorable strategic environment will not change.

Li said that China stands ready to work with the DPRK to implement the important consensus reached by the two top leaders, strengthen strategic communication, consolidate political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation and enhance coordination in multilateral affairs. These efforts will further deepen bilateral relations and bring greater benefits to both peoples, he added.

According to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the total value of bilateral trade in 2025 reached $2.735 billion, with $2.295 billion in Chinese exports to the DPRK and $440 million in imports.

The opening of the new bridge follows the resumption of other cross-border transportation services earlier this year.

On March 12, international passenger trains linking Beijing and Dandong with Pyongyang resumed, with daily services launched between Dandong and Pyongyang. Air China restored passenger flights between Beijing and Pyongyang later that month.

Dandong boasts China's largest border trade port with the DPRK. The new four-lane, cable-stayed road bridge starts in the Dandong New Area, about 12 kilometers downstream from the Yalu River Broken Bridge and the China-DPRK Friendship Bridge.

Construction work for the new bridge, both funded and built by China, began in December 2010 and was completed in October 2014.

Although the China-DPRK Friendship Bridge caters to both rail and road traffic, it is designed for trucks weighing no more than 20 metric tons and allows only one-way road traffic at any given point of time. The newly opened bridge is designed to carry more load and allows two-way traffic.

Lyu Chao, director of Liaoning University's Institute of American and East Asian Studies, said the new transportation link will help ease bottlenecks in bilateral trade and lay the groundwork for deeper economic cooperation.

Growing freight demand has put increasing pressure on the China-DPRK Friendship Bridge, Lyu said, adding that the new bridge's direct link with Northeast China's expressway network will allow trucks to bypass downtown Dandong, improving transportation efficiency, lowering logistics costs and easing urban traffic congestion.

Kim Ye-rim, a DPRK student who joined Chinese language studies at Liaodong University in spring this year, said the new bridge is a vital link in the traditional friendship between the two countries and a symbol of their economic cooperation and prosperity.