The government of China and Russia have announced plans to collaborate and construct world’s first international cableway over the Heilongjiang River.
The cableway project which is aimed at promoting tourism between the two countries will be constructed between Blagoveshchensk and Heihe, part of a ‘common tourist zone’ between the two cities.
“A cableway will be a safe and convenient shortcut for tourists to cross the Heilongjiang River. Riders will also get a glimpse of the unique views of both cities,” said Qin Enting, secretary of the Heihe Communist Party.
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Cable way project
The cable cars will run between Heihe, a city in Heilongjiang Province in the extreme northeast of China, and the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk, both of which have a population a little over 200,000. It will be 972m long, with carriages able to carry 80 people.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed an order authorizing relevant government departments to clinch with the Chinese side an intergovernmental agreement on the construction, operation and maintenance of the 750-meter-long link. When complete, the project will be owned by a consortium of eight private companies led by Shanghai-based conglomerate Fosun International, which will take a 51% stake in the project’s registered capital of US $1.8 bn.
The project is set to begin this year with approval of designs, and it is expected that the system will become operational in the first quarter of 2021. China and Russia are increasing border links through several infrastructure projects, including the Tongjiang Railway Bridge, the main construction of which is complete, and the Heihe–Blagoveshchensk road bridge, which will open soon. The plan is to build a network in the border area that connects China’s Belt and Road initiative with Russia’s Vision Eurasian Union.
