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Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - SEOUL —A long-delayed road bridge linking China and North Korea has opened, Chinese state media reported, marking the latest rapprochement between the neighbors.
China is North Korea's largest trading partner and a lifeline against heavy international sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
The four-lane Yalu River Bridge spans 3km from the Chinese border city of Dandong to Sinuiju in North Korea, and is set to become the main land route for trade between them.
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.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, in a video address on Thursday, said the bridge was a "new landmark symbolizing the traditional friendship between China and North Korea", and that the two countries were "opening a new chapter" in bilateral ties.
Satellite imagery from earlier this month showed vehicles on the bridge connecting Dandong and Sinuiju, which are believed to account for about 70% of bilateral trade, and on Thursday an opening ceremony saw trucks decked out with national flags making the journey over the river.
The older Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, also located in Dandong and built in 1937, has traditionally served as the main crossing between the two countries. But with just one lane, it can accommodate traffic in only one direction at a time.
The long-delayed opening follows a period of improving relations between Beijing and Pyongyang, including the reopening of a railway connection in March and Xi’s visit to Pyongyang in June for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
That summit hinted at a restoration of ties between the two communist states after they grew more distant in recent years as North Korea grew closer to Russia, analysts say.
The bridge offers an opportunity for China and North Korea to demonstrate the restoration of their relationship and their strategic alignment to the international community, Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University in South Korea told CNN.
Last month, North Korea inaugurated the first road bridge linking it to Russia.
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