Russia says to build cross-border aerial ropeway with China

MOSCOW - Russia and China will build an 750-meter-long aerial ropeway across a border river to promote tourism and facilitate border crossing by individuals between the two countries, the Russian government press service said Friday.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has 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 ropeway across the Amur River in Russia's Far East(the Heilongjiang River in Northeast China) on the common border, the government press service said.

The project is to be started this year, while the commissioning of the ropeway is expected by the first quarter of 2018.

The construction of the ropeway is expected to enhance the attractiveness of the Amur region as a tourist destination, attract investment for improvement of tourism infrastructure and promote socio-economic development in the region.

Besides, a 2,215-meter-long railway bridge, which also crosses the river, is slated for completion by the end of 2016.

The bridge will link Tongjiang city in Heilongjiang province with Nizhneleninskoye in Russia's Jewish Autonomous Oblast.

With a designed annual shipment volume of 21 million metric tons, the bridge will contribute to the development of cross-border trade, transportation and tourism.

A package of investment programs in connection with the two cross-border projects will be discussed at the 2015 Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) scheduled for Sept 3-5 in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok.

The EEF was established in compliance with a decree issued by Russian President Vladimier Putin in May 2015. According to the decree, the EEF takes place annually in Vladivostok.