Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al-Houthi: We find ourselves in the most sacred battle and the greatest position. We do not consider the sacrifices to be wasted losses; rather, we have given everything for the sake of this stance.
Al-Houthi: The Zionist scheme is undoubtedly a plot to enslave and exploit this nation. This is a fact, not an exaggeration.
Al-Houthi: Great sacrifice in the path of God only increases our steadfastness, determination, certainty, resilience, and cohesion.
Al-Houthi: The Zionist crime confirms the importance of Yemen's conscious and insightful position based on constants, values, and human ethics.
Al-Houthi: The Israeli enemy is a criminal who proves its brutality and monstrosity through all its criminal practices, void of any controls.
Al-Houthi: The Israeli enemy's record is one of terrible and horrific crimes, full of bloodshed against the Palestinian people and people in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
Al-Houthi: The crime of targeting ministers and civilian workers adds to the Israeli enemy's criminal record in the region.
Al-Houthi: All of the martyrs were ministers working in civilian fields.
Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi: We extend our sincerest condolences to all the martyrs' families, their loved ones, their colleagues, and our dear people.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli drone targeted a residential apartment in the al-Natour Square in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City

China plans new airport in Hegang to boost Russia trade, local economy

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 21 Jul 2025 18:43
3 Min Read

China is constructing Luobei Airport in the border city of Hegang to revive its economy and support growing trade with Russia.

Listen
  • x
  • An Air China passenger jet prepares to land at the Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 in Beijing, China, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
    An Air China passenger jet prepares to land at the Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 in Beijing, China, Saturday, April 12, 2025 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

China is pressing ahead with a strategically important infrastructure project in its northeastern rust belt, seeking to align local revitalization efforts with the broader expansion of economic ties with Russia. In the city of Hegang, located in Heilongjiang province and bordering Russia, construction is set to begin soon on Luobei Airport, a move that marks both a regional development push and a geopolitical maneuver. The project has received approval from top authorities, including the State Council and the Central Military Commission, and is expected to be operational by 2027.

Classified as a feeder-scale Class 4C facility, Luobei Airport will feature a 2,500-meter runway and a 5,008-square-meter terminal building. With an estimated investment of 1.2 billion yuan, the airport is designed to accommodate 450,000 passengers and 1,600 tons of cargo annually, along with approximately 5,360 aircraft movements per year. These specifications convey Beijing's intent to integrate remote and economically distressed regions like Hegang into wider national and cross-border logistics and supply chains.

Border Hub

Hegang's location gives it a strategic advantage. The city already hosts two national-level land ports and lies just south of the China-Russia border. This positioning makes it an ideal candidate to benefit from growing bilateral trade, which reached $244.8 billion in 2024. As the South China Morning Post noted, “Hegang, which hosts two national-level land ports, could benefit from growing bilateral trade... by becoming a regional logistics hub.”

The airport project is not a stand-alone effort. It complements a larger development strategy under the Heilongjiang pilot free trade zone, which includes plans for a China–Russia border logistics hub aimed at facilitating e-commerce, bulk freight consolidation, and integrated transport networks. These initiatives reflect China's commitment to deepening its commercial and strategic partnership with Russia, particularly amid shifting global trade alignments.

Revival Strategy

For Hegang, the Luobei Airport project is more than a symbol of national investment; it is a potential turning point in the city's troubled trajectory. Once a thriving coal-mining center emblematic of China's state-led industrial boom, Hegang has faced a steep decline in recent years. The collapse of heavy industry, combined with outmigration and aging demographics, has left the city hollowed out. Official figures show that Hegang's population dropped from about 1.1 million in the 2010s to 850,000 in 2025, while its GDP contracted from 40.92 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) in 2022 to 38.02 billion yuan ($5.3 billion) in 2024.

These economic woes have had a visible impact: Hegang made headlines across Chinese social media for its “cabbage-price” homes, with apartments selling for as little as a few thousand yuan, making it a symbol of the stark regional inequality in China's economic landscape.

Read more: China's exports beat growth expectations, hitting 5.9% in H1 2025

In this context, Luobei Airport represents a dual-purpose strategy: to strengthen China-Russia trade infrastructure and to reverse the socioeconomic decline of one of China's most distressed urban centers. It reflects a broader trend of using state-backed infrastructure to stimulate growth in fading industrial zones, an approach that continues to define China's domestic policy toolkit.

  • economic revival
  • China-Russia relations
  • China
  • Infrastructure
  • Chinese economy
  • Hegang
  • Luobei Airport

Most Read

Fierce resistance ambushes target IOF in Gaza Strip

Fierce resistance ambushes target IOF in al-Zaytoun, Gaza City

  • Politics
  • 30 Aug 2025
Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

  • Politics
  • 26 Aug 2025
Although it does seem likely they will launch some kind of operation in northern Gaza, one which will accelerate its mass murder of civilians, but will fail to achieve its stated objectives. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Here is why the Israeli occupation of Gaza won’t work

  • Opinion
  • 26 Aug 2025
A scene showing an al-Qassam Brigades fighter during an ambush on July 7, 2025, in a video released by the al-Qassam Brigades on August 26, 2025 (al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

Al-Qassam reveals Beit Hanoun ambush targeting Israeli forces

  • Politics
  • 26 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Indonesia president says some protests 'leaning towards treason'
Politics

Indonesia president says some protests 'leaning towards treason'

Photo from the United 4 Gaza protest in Frankfurt Germany on August 30, 2025 (@theLeanderthal on X)
Politics

Over 10,000 join pro-Palestine protest in Frankfurt, Germany

NATO became tool of US expansion: US economist
US & Canada

NATO became tool of US expansion, says US economist

An Israeli soldier walks on a road following a military raid in the West Bank village of Al-Mughayyir, on August 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Politics

New illegal Israeli settlement established near al-Khalil

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS