DANDONG — "That bridge is finally going to open. Right now it's just packed with tourists, but soon there will be plenty of traders too."
Two Chinese men pointed at the bridge as they spoke on the second-floor terrace of a cafe in Dandong's New District (Xinqu), in China's Liaoning province, facing the New Yalu River Bridge head-on on the 6th. Right beside them, two middle-aged women speaking with North Korean accents and wearing Nike sneakers were busy taking photos with the bridge in the background.
An empty stretch of land until recently, the area has shown visible change since May, with more than a dozen cafes and food trucks moving in. Activity is spreading across the Xinqu commercial district, which had been left in a state little better than a ghost town for more than a decade. At a large shopping mall about 500 meters from the bridge, a Starbucks and a McDonald's opened side by side, the first in the area. One taxi driver said tourist numbers have risen sharply in recent weeks.
On a vacant lot beneath the New Yalu River Bridge, next to the cafe, dozens of cargo trucks painted in various colors stood without license plates. A yellow barrier surrounding the lot read "amusement park coming soon," but the site was in fact being used as a storage yard for new vehicles. A source living in Dandong said existing structures had been demolished about two weeks earlier and a large number of trucks brought in. "They appear to be vehicles for sale to North Korea," the source said. "They are on the U.N. sanctions list, but lately China seems to be turning a blind eye."
The New Yalu River Bridge was completed in 2014 with China covering the cost, but its opening has been postponed for 12 years as relations between Pyongyang and Beijing soured and construction of connecting roads and a customs facility on the North Korean side was delayed. Vehicles have been spotted crossing several times since the middle of last month, and night lighting on the bridge's main towers and piers was switched on a few days ago. Property prices are also stirring, with landlords pulling listings off the market on expectations that the opening will boost bilateral trade. The owner of a flower shop that counts the North Korean consulate among its main clients said a growing number of trading companies have been setting up or relocating to the Xinqu area, adding that the shop had recently established a separate corporate entity.
The Dandong-Sinuiju corridor linked by the New Yalu River Bridge is an overland trade hub that accounts for roughly 70% of China-North Korea trade. Trade between the two countries had already returned to pre-COVID-19 levels last year, and it is expected to grow explosively as the two sides draw closer and the bridge opens. Once in service, the bridge is expected to take over as the main freight route from the existing China-North Korea Friendship Bridge. Some experts predicted total cargo volumes could as much as double.
With the possibility of a U.S.-North Korea summit next month under discussion, attention is also on whether the opening will take place. Analysts say North Korea would gain leverage in talks with Washington by securing China as a backer alongside Russia, while China would be able to check U.S. influence on the Korean Peninsula.
Still, no signs of event preparations were visible on the 6th, the 77th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and North Korea, a date that had been widely expected for the opening. Twenty vehicles were seen crossing the bridge and returning by 1 p.m., and people were observed entering and leaving the customs facility on the North Korean side, but there were no national flags of the two countries or security details for dignitaries, the kind of scene normally seen at an opening ceremony. Nearby merchants and customs guards offered different dates for the opening, citing the 6th and the 16th. Some merchants made no effort to hide their distrust. A street vendor who said they had run a stall in Dandong for more than a decade said, "Every year there's news that the bridge will open, but it has never happened." The vendor added, "The North Koreans here used to be mostly traders, but these days they are only hotel and restaurant workers."
