China-built Moscow metro stations open to traffic

Passengers are seen in the newly opened Michurinsky Prospekt metro station in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday via video link launched a new section of the Moscow Metro, part of which was built by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC).

CRCC constructed a 5.4-km line, which consists of three stations and nine tunnels, as part of the 70-km Third Interchange Circuit of the Moscow Metro.

It was the first time for Russia to introduce a Chinese enterprise in its metro construction, which was also marked as the first metro project of a Chinese company in Europe.

The Michurinsky Prospekt station, "a new landmark for Sino-Russian friendship" as CRCC put it, features Chinese elements such as red pillars, patterns of Chinese character "shou" meaning longevity, and auspicious clouds.

During four and a half years of construction, CRCC developed five tunnel boring machines that could withstand the temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius.

Chinese and Russian builders joined efforts to successfully overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, solve world-class engineering difficulties and set multiple construction records in Russia, the CRCC said.