A new rail line and bridge have been completed and opened to traffic in the port city of Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province.

According to local sources, the new 19.3-km-long rail line connects the Haicang Taiwan Investment Zone in east Xiamen with the Yingtan-Xiamen line, an important stretch of rail linking Xiamen with other mainland areas.

Construction of the project began in July 1998 jointly financed by the Xiamen city government and the Shanghai Municipal Railways Administration at a cost of 200 million yuan.

The Haicang Bridge, an offshore suspension bridge, connects the Haicang Taiwan Investment Zone west Xiamen with Xianyue Road in the city's downtown.

The bridge is 5,926.5 meters long and is the first three-span suspension bridge in Asia. The bridge was begun in December 1995 and cost 2.87 billion yuan.

The newly operational bridge and railway are of great significance for enhancing Xiamen's capacity to receive and distribute goods, expanding the city's ties with other areas of the country and for promoting trade, air service, and shipping and mail services across the Taiwan Straits.