North Korea and China open new bridge after 12-year delay

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The New Yalu River Bridge spans 3km (1.9 miles) from the Chinese border city of Dandong to Sinuiju in North Korea, and is set to become the main land route for trade between the two countries.

Its launch, initially slated for 2014, had been indefinitely postponed after North Korea halted construction of its roads and customs facilities, as relations with Beijing turned frosty.

Experts have said the bridge's opening on Thursday would signal a continued rekindling of ties between Beijing and Pyongyang – though sore spots remain.

The New Yalu River Bridge is an alternative to the decades-old Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, which was built between 1937 and 1943 during Imperial Japan's occupation of the region.

The New Yalu River Bridge is an "important facility for connectivity" between the two neighbours, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday, adding that the new route would "further facilitate trade and people-to-people exchanges".

China is North Korea's largest trading partner and a lifeline against heavy international sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.

Last year, bilateral trade reached $2.7bn, marking a recovery to pre-pandemic levels – though this was mostly fuelled by Chinese exports to North Korea.

A sharp and sudden increase in trade across the border is "unlikely" as the UN sanctions on North Korea remain in effect, Kang Jun-young, a professor of Chinese studies at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, tells the BBC.

"Pyongyang is also wary of a sudden flood of Chinese imports that would greatly expand China's influence over its domestic market," he adds.

"China is well aware of these concerns, so trade is more likely to grow gradually."

Beijing and Pyongyang are long-standing allies with a mutual defence treaty – the only one that China has with any country – and a relationship famously described to be "as close as lips and teeth".

The two neighbours have only emerged in recent years from an era of frostiness that characterised much of the 2010s, as Beijing's patience over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme wore thin.

A rekindling of the friendship came as China took a softer stance towards North Korea's nuclear development.

"Whilst only a decade ago, Beijing was overtly critical of North Korea's nuclearisation – and indeed calling for Pyongyang's denuclearisation – China is now saying little, if anything, to this effect," Edward Howell, a lecturer at the University of Oxford, tells the BBC.

Air China resumed direct flights between Beijing and Pyongyang in March after a six-year hiatus triggered by the pandemic. The two countries reopened passenger train services the same month.

But Beijing is also keeping a cautious eye on the burgeoning friendship between Pyongyang and Moscow, which has grown dramatically since the start of the Ukraine war.

Last month, North Korea and Russia opened their first road bridge, which Russian state media said would allow the movement of up to 300 vehicles and more than 2,000 people every day.

The opening of the New Yalu River Bridge on Thursday comes as Beijing is trying shore up ties and reassert its sway over Pyongyang's unpredictable regime.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit of this year, in June, was to Pyongyang, where he met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"The opening of the New Yalu River Bridge demonstrates bilateral relations are improving and that Xi Jinping's June visit to North Korea was more than symbolic," says Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

"But the long delay, including North Korea's pandemic self-isolation and domestic socioeconomic crackdowns, shows what a difficult partner Pyongyang can be for Beijing."