Overview
- Journalists reported trucks began using the bridge on Thursday, October 15, 2026, as Chinese and North Korean officials formally inaugurated the crossing between Dandong and Sinuiju.
- The concrete span has four lanes, measures about 3,026 metres, and is intended to provide an alternative to the older, capacity‑limited Sino‑Korean Friendship Bridge.
- The structure was finished in 2014 but stayed closed for years because North Korea lacked connecting roads and customs facilities that are needed for regular traffic.
- China’s foreign ministry said the bridge will promote economic and people-to-people exchanges, Seoul said it is following the opening closely, and a Korea specialist warned it could sharply raise Chinese shipments into North Korea.
- Real change will depend on North Korea completing approach roads and customs arrangements and on how international sanctions shape trade, with the opening also fitting a recent pattern of Pyongyang expanding land links with neighbours.