A temporary pontoon passage across the China-Russia border, which connects Luobei County of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province with Russia's Amurzet, opened to traffic on Friday to facilitate transportation between the two countries in winter.
The pontoon passage is a temporary river crossing facility, typically used during the winter when the river is frozen. It usually consists of multiple connected floating units to form a transport route on the ice surface.
The pontoon passage connecting Luobei and Amurzet is composed of 34 floating units with a total length of more than 900 meters. With the passage, it takes only five minutes by car to travel between the two places.
To further facilitate the cross-border transportation, local authorities in Luobei set up a "one-stop" customs clearance mechanism, allowing the vehicles to be inspected upon arrival to maximize the efficiency of customs clearance.
"We have frequent business exchanges with Russia on the other side, and the opening of this freight pontoon channel is really convenient. It takes only five minutes to get to Russia, which is time-saving and labor-saving for us," said Zhang Shuai, a passenger who is taking a cross-border bus to Russia.
The construction of the pontoon passage greatly enhanced the transportation capacity of Luobei Port, especially during the winter, allowing it to operate year-round.
Seasonal pontoon passage linking China, Russia opens to traffic
