Vietnam-China Bac Luan Bridge II inaugurated in Quang Ninh

The Vietnam-China Bac Luan (Beilun) Bridge II was inaugurated in Mong Cai city, in Vietnam’s northern province of Quang Ninh, on September 13.

Bac Luan Bridge II is the largest arch bridge in Vietnam. (Credit: VOV)
Bac Luan Bridge II is the largest arch bridge in Vietnam. (Credit: VOV)

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh and Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Hong Xiaoyong.

Addressing the ceremony, Chairman of the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Long said that once Vietnam and China have completed the customs clearance procedures of goods and passengers at Bac Luan Bridge II, economic and trade ties between Quang Ninh and China’s Guangxi province, as well as between the two countries in general, will advance.

The two sides are also preparing for the formation of a bilateral economic cooperation area at one end of the Bac Luan Bridge II in order to enhance the connectivity between the Mong Cai border gate economic zone and the Dongxing National Key Development and Opening-up Experimental Zone of China, and facilitate trade between Vietnam, China and Northeast Asia, he said.

Long highlighted the expressway connecting Hanoi with the northern cities of Hai Phong, Ha Long and Mong Cai of Quang Ninh on the Vietnamese side, in conjunction with China’s expressway system, as providing favourable conditions for bilateral trade.

The Bac Luan Bridge II project was approved under Decision No. 3325/QD-UBND dated December 6, 2012, of the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee.

It aims to ease the traffic burden on Bac Luan Bridge I and promote trade and tourism cooperation between Quang Ninh and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in addition to gradually completing the external transport system and creating development momentum for Mong Cai city.

The four-lane bridge measures 154.5m long on the Vietnamese side and 463.5m on the Chinese side, with a width of 27.7m.

Built at a cost of VND336 billion (nearly US$14.8 million), Bac Luan Bridge II is the largest arch bridge in Vietnam. The construction of the bridge and an 800-m linking road has been completed so far.

Over the past few years, trade, investment and tourism cooperation between Vietnam and China has made many new strides. Vietnam is China’s biggest trade and tourism partner in ASEAN with two-way trade reaching US$47.21 billion in the first seven months of this year, up 12.36% annually. Of the figure, export revenue stood at US$15.62 billion, up 14.4%, and import turnover was US$31.59 billion, up 11.5%.

Vietnam ran a trade deficit of US$15.97 billion with China, a decrease of 3.03% against the same period last year.

In 2016, China continued to take the lead in the number of holiday-makers coming to Vietnam, with 2.7 million, an annual surge of 51.4%. Meanwhile, Vietnam had the largest number of visitors to China, among the ASEAN nations, with 2.2 million.

Between January and August this year, Vietnam welcomed more than 2.65 million Chinese tourists, a rise of 51.4% over the corresponding time last year.