Harbin, April 14 (xinhua) -- Russia's Amur regional government has agreed with Heihe City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, to begin work on a cross-border bridge.

    The planned Heilongjiang Bridge will span approximately 1,080 meters above the Heilong River (known as the Amur River in Russia) to connect Heihe and Amur.

    "Russia has endeavored to improve the infrastructure of the Far East to inspire investment. The bridge will expand the capability of the Siberian railway, and accelerate distribution from northeast Asia to Europe," said Amur vice-governor Alexander Gordeyev.

    The bridge has been on the planning board since its proposal in 1996.

    The Heihe city mayor, Zhang Jingchuan, said the continued increase in cross-border trade had raised the priority of the bridge.

    "The bridge is expected to ease the transport bottleneck of Sino-Russia trade, and reduce trade costs," said Zhang. Enditem