HARBIN, Aug. 29  -- A direct air route between Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, and Moscow, capital of Russia, was launched on Thursday.

The route, operated by Russia's Ural Airlines, is the first one to link northeast China with Moscow. The once-a-week flight is expected to boost trade and personnel exchanges between the two countries.

The U6855 flight took off at 10:45 p.m. on Thursday from Moscow and arrived in Harbin at 7:45 a.m. on Friday. The U6866 flight took off at 9:20 a.m. and is expected to arrive in Moscow via Yekaterinburg at 9:30 p.m..

Harbin, which has been influenced a lot by Russia in its architecture and food, has opened air routes with Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, both in Russia's far east.