During this visit, both sides reiterated their friendly relationship based on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and reached new consensus on cooperation in multiple fields.

There are three documents signed by both parties, namely: the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the Construction of Cross border Highway Bridges on the Tumen River, and the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Cooperation in the Fields of Health, Medical Education, and Science.

Russian Minister of Transport, Starovoit, introduced that the construction agreement for this approximately 850 meter long highway bridge was formulated by the Russian Ministry of Transport. The bridge will be located in the coastal area of Russia, adjacent to the existing and operational Friendship Railway Bridge. Russia will be responsible for constructing a 300 meter bridge and a 2.4 kilometer approach bridge as an extension of the Ussuri Highway. Starovoit also said that North Korea will build corresponding facilities from its own end to ensure the smooth completion and operation of the highway bridge.

At the same time, China and Russia also plan to negotiate with North Korea on the issue of China going out to sea through the lower reaches of the Tumen River.

Tumen River, a river originating from the Changbai Mountains in Jilin Province, China, has been an important channel connecting inland and ocean since ancient times. However, for a long time, the issue of the Tumen River estuary has been troubling the development of Northeast China. This important international river, after crossing the border between North Korea and Russia, ultimately flows into the Sea of Japan but fails to allow Chinese ships to freely navigate.

The Friendship Bridge built during the Soviet era on the border between the two countries had a waterway height of only 11 meters, which restricted the passage of large Chinese ships. This means that even though the Tumen River is a river within Chinese territory, Chinese ships cannot freely reach its destination - the Sea of Japan. This dilemma not only affects the foreign trade and economic development of Northeast China, but also limits China's rights and strategic deployment at sea.

In addition, Chinese ships can only reach Fangchuan Village and cannot continue to move forward. This to some extent limits the foreign economic exchanges in the Northeast region.

For many years, China has been striving to find a solution. Although ideas have been proposed in areas such as economic zones, they have not been successful due to various reasons. Nowadays, with the changes in the international situation and the continuous improvement of China Russia relations, it seems that the desire to open the mouth of the Tumen River to the sea has been realized.

Russia is currently facing multiple challenges such as Western sanctions and urgently needs to find new economic partners and export markets. As one of the largest developing countries in the world, China has huge market demand and enormous development potential. Therefore, for Russia, the "look east" strategy is particularly important.

Opening up the Tumen River estuary not only provides a convenient sea route for Northeast China, but also provides more energy export opportunities for Russia. This is not only beneficial for the economic development of China and Russia, but also promotes the prosperity and stability of the entire Northeast Asia region.

In addition to economic benefits, the opening of the Tumen River estuary also has profound political and strategic significance. This will help enhance China's influence in Northeast Asia and enhance its strategic position in the ocean. Meanwhile, for North Korea, which has long been sanctioned by the United States, participating in this project will bring more economic cooperation and investment opportunities, promote its economic development, and elevate its international status.

At present, it seems that both China and Russia have made positive efforts to achieve this. The heads of natural resources, ecology, and transportation departments in Russia actively participated in discussions, demonstrating the Russian side's importance and sincerity in this cooperation. And North Korea has also expressed its willingness to strengthen bilateral cooperation, laying a solid foundation for trilateral cooperation. Keywords: the Belt and Road news, the Belt and Road project, overseas project.

With the continuous deepening of China Russia relations and the continuous improvement of the trilateral cooperation mechanism, the goal of opening up the Tumen River estuary is getting closer and closer. This will be a great thing that benefits the country and the people, and we look forward to and cheer for it. We will immediately follow and release the official progress of Tumen River on the official account. (This article is from the official website of Jiandao: www.seetao. com. Reproduction without permission is not allowed, otherwise it will be punished. Please indicate Jiandao's website and the original link when reprinting.) Jiandao's mechanical column editor/Zhou Yingwen