The main structure of the first cross-border ropeway linking China and Russia has been completed, bringing closer the prospect of more efficient people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, a Chinese official said on Sunday.
Construction of the passenger ropeway connecting Heihe City in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and Russia's Blagoveshchensk across the Heilongjiang River began in July 2019.
The entire project is scheduled to be completed before the end of this year, said Zhang Qijun, deputy director of the management committee of the China (Heilongjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone's Heihe section.
Once operational, the ropeway will cut cross-river travel time between the two border cities to just six to eight minutes, according to Cao Xinhong, chairman of Heihe-based Jinlonggang Construction and Development Co., Ltd., the contractor for the Chinese section of the project.
The ropeway has a horizontal cross-river span of 970 meters and is equipped with two carriages, each capable of carrying 110 passengers, Cao said.
The ropeway runs at a maximum speed of 12 meters per second, with a designed annual one-way passenger throughput of 2.6 million.
Zhang said Heihe and Blagoveshchensk, twin border cities facing each other across the Heilongjiang River, have long maintained close economic, trade and cultural ties.
The Heihe-Blagoveshchensk cross-border highway bridge opened to traffic in 2022 as the first highway bridge connecting the two countries.
"Once the ropeway is operational, Heihe will have a comprehensive cross-border transport network consisting of a highway bridge, ferry service and ropeway, which will drive the coordinated development of tourism, logistics, trade and other industries in the border regions of both countries," Zhang said.
Figures show that improved connectivity and the introduction of a mutual visa-free policy between Russia and China have boosted people-to-people exchanges. In the first half of this year, inbound and outbound passenger flows through Heihe Port surpassed 568,000, up more than 60 percent year on year.