The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, announces that a key phase in constructing the first-ever railway bridge across the Amur River on the Russia-China border has been completed, the RDIF’s web page reported. The builders have joined the Russian and Chinese parts of the bridge, spanning more than 130 meters in length and weighing more than 1 thousand tons.
Construction on the Russian part of the bridge is ongoing to install the railway track and complete the transport infrastructure. Construction on the site is expected to be completed towards the end of 2019.
The cross-border bridge over the Amur River is being jointly implemented by RDIF with the Far East and Baikal Region Development Fund. At full capacity, the bridge will facilitate the movement of up to 20 million tons per year and will connect Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Region with the Chinese province of Heilongjiang. The bridge will be connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway by a new 120-kilometer railway line, creating a new export corridor between Russia and China and removing infrastructure restrictions that currently limit the transportation of goods between the two countries. It will also create significant potential for economic development in the region.
“We are pleased to announce the completion of an important phase of the bridge across the Amur river. The growth of trade between Russia and China necessitates a corresponding expansion and modernization of transport infrastructure. In this regard, the bridge will create new opportunities for cooperation between Russian and Chinese companies will significantly reduce transport costs and increase the export potential for both our economies, allowing a 1.5-fold increase in the capacity of railway routes between Russia and China. The bridge will significantly increase the turnover of goods and the competitiveness of Russian producers and exporters in the region, reducing the shipment distance to the final consumer by about 700 km compared to other export railway routes. The launch of the bridge is an important development for Russia’s “International Cooperation and Export” national project set up by the President of Russia, as well as to the “Comprehensive Plan for the modernization and expansion of the trunk infrastructure,” Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, noted.