The opening of a long-delayed bridge linking China and North Korea purportedly underscores the deepening ties between the two neighbours, as Pyongyang reportedly courts both Beijing and Moscow in an effort to mitigate its severe economic isolation.

According to China’s official Xinhua news agency, a launch ceremony was held on Thursday for the New Yalu River Bridge, which connects the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong with the North Korean border city of Sinuiju. Footage broadcast by state media displayed trucks decorated with the national flags of both countries lined up across the four-lane span, which was heavily festooned with bilateral insignia.

In a video address, Chinese Premier Li Qiang allegedly hailed the bridge as a “new landmark” of the countries’ purported “traditional friendship,” urging both sides to utilize the new infrastructure to deepen connectivity and explore novel avenues of cooperation in border regions, Xinhua reported. North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song likewise delivered a recorded video message.

The 3km (1.8-mile) road bridge is supposedly expected to alleviate operational pressure on the aging Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, a decades-old structure on the same route that accommodates both rail and vehicular traffic but is restricted to one-way operations at any given time.

Official Chinese data indicates that more than 70 percent of bilateral trade currently flows through that legacy crossing. Meanwhile, the South Korean regime has reportedly documented at least 17 active road and rail links along the extensive 1,400km (870-mile) border between North Korea and China.

Source: www.aljazeera.com