China and North Korea have officially opened their most significant land border crossing on Thursday, aiming to rejuvenate trade and commerce after years of strained ties and pandemic-related disruptions.
Trucks festooned with the national flags of the neighbours drove across the long-delayed 3-km (2-mile) New Yalu River Bridge, its towering pylons also decked in flags, linking the Chinese city of Dandong with North Korea.
“(Bilateral) relations are entering a new phase, embarking on a new chapter,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang said in an address at the opening.
The border crossing would “strongly promote” economic and trade cooperation and further strengthen exchanges between their people, he said.
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It also offers an opportunity to improve border clearance procedures, boost connectivity and build cooperation in border areas, Li said.
The opening is the latest sign of warming ties between Beijing and Pyongyang, after two summits between their leaders in the past year.
China is by far Pyongyang’s largest trading partner, even after a series of UN sanctions banned the flow of goods and workers with the North over the latter’s missile and nuclear weapons development.
China and Russia, permanent members of the UN Security Council that voted to approve sanctions resolutions until 2017, have since questioned the legitimacy and efficacy of such bans.
China’s exports to North Korea rose to a six-year high of $2.3 billion last year, an increase of 25% on the year.
Still, that was well below levels before UN sanctions tightened in 2017.
