A new river-crossing road made by iced floating objects for the winter season, which links China's north eastern border checkpoint Tongjiang to Russia's Nizhneleninskoye, has opened for traffic, following the earlier opened Heihe-Blagoveshchensk ice road.
The Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye ice river-crossing road is the first of such roads on the Sino-Russian border, and was first opened for traffic in 2007. It was laid every winter when the river is frozen and removed in spring next year. Every year, the cargo and passenger flow on the road has been rising.
Staff from the Tongjiang checkpoint said the road is a solution to the limitation of tonnage of trucks moving on the frozen river and enhances safety and capacity for the transportation for both passenger and cargo in winter.
The road has boosted trade between China and Russia during winter season. Manager of a local company, quoted by Xinhua, said that since opening of the road, their daily cargo volume has surged 300 to 500 per cent and has brought them big profit while lowering transportation cost.