Beijing [China]: China has increased its investment near its borders with North Korea by investing in the Liaoning Province. China’s Liaoning Province will spend more than half a million dollars on a bridge into North Korea over the coming months to install “anti-terror monitoring points,” overhaul electrical systems and conduct daily maintenance, government documents show, despite the bridge going unused for years, according to NK news, ab independent, privately owned specialist information sources that focus on North Korea. Further, the new investments in the New Yalu River Bridge, which connects China’s Dandong to the North Korean city of Sinuij is aimed to improve border security, according to the Chinese announcement. “I think the Chinese government has been very consistent about their willingness to invest in connectivity with North Korea,” Go Myong-hyun of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “It could be part of China’s long-term policy to keep investing in connectivity with North Korea, essentially preparing for the day when North Korea finally decides to reopen the border or increase the level of trade with China,” he added. Meanwhile, China passed border security legislation aimed at further securing the country’s far-flung borders. Further, China plans to replace a majority of the bridge’s electrical systems, apply 334,000 square feet (31,000 square meters) of protective asphalt coatings and contract two years’ worth of inspection and maintenance work, according to North Korea News. Earlier, the New Yalu River Bridge was completed in 2013 at a cost of some $350 million and is supposed to be a major highway between North Korea and China. But it has gone virtually unused since completion, and as late as 2019 it ended abruptly in an empty field outside Sinuiju. If opened, the New Yalu River Bridge would likely boost overall trade between China and North Korea.
