The New Yalu River Bridge connecting China with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will officially open to traffic on Thursday, with a joint opening ceremony to be held by the two countries, the Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.

The new bridge will further facilitate trade and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular news conference in Beijing.

The China-DPRK Friendship Bridge, a one-way link built in 1937, was the only land route connecting Liaoning province with the North Pyongan province of the DPRK, according to Xinhua News Agency.

A statement released by the Foreign Ministry said the two governments signed an agreement in February 2010 on the joint construction, management and maintenance of the border highway bridge.

Construction of the 3,026-meter-long bridge began on Dec 31, 2010, with a total investment of 2.22 billion yuan ($331.69 million), fully funded by China, according to a 2014 Xinhua report.

Located adjacent to the Guomenwan trade zone in Dandong, Liaoning, the new bridge is a modern dual carriage four-lane cross-border highway, which is expected to significantly increase port capacity, greatly reduce cross-border logistics time and lower transportation costs.

The Dandong Port is China's largest land port and goods distribution center for trade with the DPRK.

Data released by the General Administration of Customs in January showed that the bilateral trade volume between China and the DPRK reached $2.74 billion in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 25.5 percent.

Data from Dandong Customs showed that the import volume of the Guomenwan trade zone exceeded 160 million yuan in 2025, with 22,000 person-visits participating in such trade during the year.

"The opening of the new bridge fills a gap in China-DPRK land freight channels, significantly enhancing cross-border logistics capabilities, broadening bilateral goods circulation channels, and promoting the expansion and optimization of China-DPRK trade scale and structure," said Zhou Jingyan, deputy dean of the School of Economics at Liaodong University in Dandong. She added that the port in Dandong helps drive the aggregation of logistics, foreign trade processing and commercial services industries. "The new bridge will reduce logistics costs and shorten delivery times, directly benefiting numerous border trade merchants and local residents," she said.

In the past, Dandong focused primarily on general trade, with most goods transiting through without local processing or industrial upgrade. Now, the area has developed a collaborative development pattern of border trade, general trade, and cross-border e-commerce, with the zone achieving dual-channel operation for imports and exports.

"The new bridge opening will surely alleviate the traffic pressure on the old bridge and logistics will be more convenient," said Chen Quantong, chairman of Dandong Humaohui E-commerce Technology Industrial Park Co.

According to Liaoning's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), Dandong is positioned as a key node in domestic and international dual circulation, leveraging its unique location along the border, coast and river to become an important gateway to the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.