An agreement on establishing a Russian-Chinese limited liability company for construction of a cross-border bridge across the Amur River was signed in Harbin (China). Interfax reports that according to the Governor of the Amur Region, Alexander Kozlov, the company has been established on a party basis – Russia and China have equal shares. The construction of the bridge, which has been being discussed by the two states for 20 years, should be started in July. Its cost is 18.8 billion rubles. The Russian side will pay 13.6 billion rubles, the Chinese will pay 5.2 billion rubles.
The construction of the bridge will take about three years, including projecting work. The bridge’s length will be more than 20 km, and more than 1 km of the bridge will be built above the Amur River. Progress in the issue of the construction of the bridge took place last year, when Russia and China signed a protocol on amendments to the intergovernmental agreement on the joint construction of the bridge in 1995. The first stage of the project requires construction of a highway bridge; in the second stage a railway will be added. According to experts, the construction of the bridges will lead to a high growth of volume of cross-border trade.
As for global Russian-Chinese economic projects, the main one is the Economic Belt of the Silk Road. Yuri Tavrovsky, Professor of the Russian University of Peoples' Friendship, says that “the Chinese section is already finished. In Kazakhstan, the railroad is almost built; the highway to the border with Russia has already been built and will be opened this year. Russia has a certain deceleration. At the high level, there is a complete unity of opinions. But due to Russian red tape, this momentum is extinguished to a large extent. Many people in Russia are very unhappy with this; they want to speed up Russian-Chinese cooperation, both in the construction of highways and railways, and in the development of related economic and humanitarian projects.”
Tavrovsky hopes that the next meeting of the leaders of Russia and China, which will happen this summer, will give a new impetus to the Silk Road: “I see an opportunity for systematic improvement of the Russian-Chinese relations. If this initiative will be implemented, then we will have no problems with the extension of trade turnover. We will reach a conjugation of not only the EEU and the 'Silk Road', but also Russia and China. It is also a necessary, economic conjugation. Then we will rise to a new level of economic, political, and humanitarian development. So it is very good that it is being done, but we must do more, and we need to develop cooperation even faster.”
