China and North Korea to open New Yalu River Bridge, state media reports — SkimNews
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- China and North Korea will formally open the New Yalu River Bridge to traffic on Thursday, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency
- China completed its side of the bridge in 2014 to boost trade, but North Korea left its side unfinished for years after relations soured when Beijing backed tighter UN sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear tests
- China's exports to North Korea hit a six-year high of $2.3 billion last year, a 25% increase year-on-year
- Xi Jinping traveled to Pyongyang in June — his first visit since 2019 — as Beijing has pushed since 2018 to restore ties with Pyongyang
- The two countries' 1961 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance remains China's only formal military alliance and includes a mutual defence clause committing either side to assist the other if attacked
Why it matters: The bridge physically reconnects a trade corridor frozen for over a decade, and its opening tracks a 25% rebound in China-North Korea trade to $2.3 billion last year plus Xi's June visit to Pyongyang. For Beijing, the crossing revives a sanctioned-economy workaround on terms anchored by its only formal military alliance anywhere.
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