In for The Long Haul

By+Yu+Lintao

The 500-km train ride from Harbin， the capital city of northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province， to Suifenhe， the provinces main trade port with Russia， currently takes about 12 hours. But soon， that will no longer be the case. The travel time will be cut in half thanks to the upgrading and reconstruction of the Mudanjiang-Suifenhe section， part of the Harbin-Suifenhe line， that is scheduled to be complete by the end of this year.

The rail line from Mudanjiang to Suifenhe is a project under the construction plan of the Heilongjiang Land and Maritime Silk Road Economic Belt within the China-MongoliaRussia Economic Corridor. It is part of the countrys Belt and Road Initiative and aims to strengthen ties between the province and its neighboring countries—Mongolia and Russia. The Heilongjiang economic belt will involve a large number of railway and port construction and development of the logistics industry—particularly cross-border railway services.

Heilongjiang borders Russia to the north and east for a stretch of 2，981 km. The upgraded Mudanjiang-Suifenhe railway is expected to consolidate Heilongjiangs status as the cornerstone of Chinas trade with its northeastern neighbor and a key hub for the countrys opening up to northeast Asia.

China was Russias largest trading partner for a fifth consecutive year in 2014， while Russia was Chinas ninth largest trading partner. Bilateral trade rose 6.8 percent in 2014 from the previous year， recording a high of $95.28 billion， according to statistics from China Customs. Data from Heilongjiang authorities also show that the provinces trade with Russia in 2014 accounted for 24.4 percent of total trade volume between China and Russia and its investment in Russia accounted for more than 30 percent of Chinas investment there.

Enhancing land connectivity

The economic belt will rely on railways， including a route from Harbin to Heihe， a border city in Heilongjiang， and the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia， as well as highways， waterways and air routes for cargo transportation. The province also plans to build the Heihe Highway Bridge， which will connect the border city with Blagoveshchensk， the third biggest city in Russias Far East.

Building the Heilongjiang economic belt is an opportunity to speed up infrastructure construction to strengthen connectivity with Russian cities bordering Heilongjiang， said Zhao Wanshan， Deputy Secretary General of Heilongjiang Provincial Government.