The Quanzhou Bay cross-sea bridge in Fujian province - the world`s first sea-crossing for high-speed trains - will support speeds up to 350 kilometers per hour. The two halves of the bridge being built from opposite sides of the bay were joined on Friday last.

Diplomatic Correspondent: Two halves of the QuanzhouBay cross-sea bridge -- built simultaneously from both sides -- were joined together in coastal Fujian province. It is the world`s first bridge for high-speed trains over a sea body and will support speeds up to 350 kilometers per hour.

The 20.29-km bridge, with a cross-sea segment spanning about 9 km, is a cable-stayed bridge that was chosen for its strength.

Yan Aiguo, the bridge`s chief designer from China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group Co, said that repeated trials found that the combination of a concrete deck slab and steel girders would meet all engineering requirements.

Wind tunnel tests and related research conducted at SouthwestJiaotongUniversity, showed that the bridge will be able to resist typhoons of up to Grade 12, and that trains are virtually vibration-free at 350 km/h.

The bridge is an integral part of the 277-km Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway, China`s first cross-sea high-speed line. The railway, which connects Fuzhou with Xiamen, Fujian, is expected to be completed next year.

Cambodia`s inoculation drive gets another boost after new arrival of Chinese Covid-19 vaccines

A new batch of 3 million doses of China`s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia on Thursday, giving another boost to the kingdom`s vaccination drive.

Speaking to reporters while receiving the vaccines at the airport, health ministry`s secretary of state Yok Sambath said the vaccines were purchased from Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech.

She expressed gratitude to China for providing vaccines to Cambodia, saying that the Southeast Asian nation now has enough vaccines to sustain the immunization campaign.

"As we see, in either donated or purchased vaccines, the Chinese government always does what it says," she said. "With the coordination of the two countries` embassies, we have worked together well and smoothly."

According to Sambath, Cambodia has so far received about 25 million vaccine doses, mostly from China.

The country launched an anti-COVID-19 vaccination drive on Feb. 10, targeting to vaccinate 12 million people, or 75 percent of its 16-million population by November.

To date, 8.51 million people, or 53.2 percent of the total population, have received at least one dose, and 6.63 million of them have completed the two-dose inoculation, according to the health ministry.

The kingdom reported 455 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, pushing the national caseload to 83,839, the health ministry said, adding that 20 more fatalities were recorded, taking the death toll to 1,634.

On Wednesday, China donated a new batch of anti-COVID-19 materials to Phnom Penh, the Chinese embassy in Cambodia said on its Facebook page.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian handed over the donated items to Phnom Penh governor Khoung Sreng.

The anti-virus materials included oxygen concentrators and traditional medicines Lianhua Qingwen capsules and Huashi Baidu Keli, among others.

Wang said the donation reflected the profound friendship of the Chinese people with the Cambodian people, and expressed his hope that the donation would help Phnom Penh fight the pandemic more effectively.