China-Russia cross-border ropeway passes inspection

The Heihe pedestrian port in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, which serves a cross-river passenger ropeway connecting Heihe with Russia's Blagoveshchensk, has passed a national acceptance inspection, the Heilongjiang Daily reported on Sunday.

The opening of the port will offer an additional travel option between the two cities and help turn closer people-to-people exchanges into opportunities for border tourism and consumption, a Chinese expert told the Global Times on Sunday.

An interdepartmental team inspected passenger clearance channels, the monitoring and command center and supporting facilities before approving the port's readiness for opening. Heihe will improve coordination among departments and address follow-up requirements, the report said. It did not give a date for operations to formally begin.

Located on Daheihe Island in Heihe, the port serves what the report describes as the world's first international cross-border cableway. The 976-meter route has a designed operating speed of 12 meters per second, with cabins set to accommodate 110 passengers each and an annual designed capacity of 2.5 million passengers. A one-way ride will take only a few minutes, according to the report.

The ropeway will join an expanding transport network between China and Russia that includes the Heihe-Blagoveshchensk highway bridge. Heihe's highway port began handling freight in June 2022 and passengers in December 2024, according to the city government. The new transport link is designed specifically to carry people across the river.

Zhang Hong, a research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the ropeway would complement existing road and water links between the two cities, offering greater convenience for residents on both sides of the Heilongjiang River, particularly in winter. Its main contribution would be to passenger travel and sightseeing.

Russian residents already cross into Heihe for breakfast, shopping, dental care and other medical services. These everyday visits illustrate the close ties between communities on both sides of the river and the practical demand for convenient cross-border transport, according to Zhang.

This also reflects the practical needs of people living in neighboring border cities. With visa-free arrangements facilitating short visits, the ropeway could further support this growing flow of travelers, Zhang said. More frequent exchanges would help stimulate retail activity and demand in Northeast China, while Chinese visitors would also bring business opportunities to the Russian side.

"For residents of both countries living on the banks of the Heilongjiang River, and for businesses on both sides, it could be a great help," Zhang said.

Construction of the port began on July 18, 2019, and the State Council approved its opening to international traffic on January 28, 2020. The project is intended to strengthen connectivity with Russia under the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.

"After two to three decades of efforts, transport and logistics infrastructure connecting Northeast China and Russia's Far East is gradually maturing," Zhang said. China has maintained an open and positive attitude toward facilitating cross-border exchanges, and both sides have worked to advance local interaction and economic cooperation. These efforts are increasingly bearing fruit, the expert added.

The progress comes as the two countries expanded visa-free travel for each other's residents. China introduced a visa exemption for eligible Russian ordinary passport holders in September 2025, followed by Russia's reciprocal measure in December. Both sides have extended the arrangements to December 31, 2027, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Two-way tourist flows between Russia and China rose 17 percent year-on-year to 3.3 million trips in 2025, including 2.1 million visits to China by Russian tourists and 1.1 million visits to Russia by Chinese tourists. If the current growth trend continues, Chinese tourist arrivals in Russia could increase by 20 percent year-on-year in 2026, Sputnik reported on September 16, citing Russian official data.

Russia, meanwhile, ranked as China's second-largest source of inbound tourists over the first half of 2026, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said in an interview with Russian media published by the Foreign Ministry.