Return of the Chinese Eastern Railway

The handover of the railway was the result of negotiations between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China culminating in the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance.

The transfer of this fully operable railway gave the People's Republic of China control over a politically and economically significant rail line.

At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet government agreed to join the war against Japan ninety days after the surrender of Nazi Germany.

As a result of the Yalta Agreement, upon the end of the war against Japan, the Soviet Union would regain partial control of the Chinese Eastern Railway in the same arrangement as the original Russian concession from 1896.

"[3] On 9 August 1945, the Soviet Union invaded through Outer Manchuria and soon occupied Japanese Manchukuo including the entirety of the Chinese Eastern Railway.

In response, the Soviet Union deployed the Army's Fifth Engineering Group to help rebuild the bridge and restore service along the CCR.

[9] With the establishment of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, the PRC adopted a policy of "leaning to one side", that is allying itself with the Soviet Union.

Mao Zedong visited Moscow from December 1949 to February 1950 to establish closer ties with the Soviet Union as well as to receive economic assistance.

In the end, the two sides agreed that the Soviet Union would return the Chinese Changchun Railway to China in two years' time, but would not make capital investments before the handover.

"[16]Furthermore, the Sino-Soviet Treaty also included a 300 million dollar loan and several aid packages that would directly benefit the Chinese Changchun Railway and its associated industries.

That day, the PRC and USSR released a joint communique announcing:"The CCR property that the Soviet government transferred to the People's Republic of China without charge included the basic trunk line of the railway from Manzhouli station to Suifenhe station as well as from Harbin to Dalian and Lüshunkou, along with the lands working for the line, railway buildings and equipments, vehicles — locomotives, wagons, and carriage compartments, internal-combustion engine vehicles, repair factories of locomotives and compartments, power plants, telephone and telegraph offices, communication equipments and communication lines, railway branches, technical business buildings and residential buildings, economic organizations, subsidiary enterprises and other enterprises and organs, as well as property redeemed, recovered, and built newly during the Sino-Soviet joint management period.

The trust required to follow the "Big Brother" Soviet Union had been firmly established with the handover of the CCR and now spread into all sectors of the alliance.

After the failure of the Berlin Blockade, Stalin had sought to strengthen Soviet alliances with friendly powers in other parts of the world, and had succeeded in this regard with the new treaty with the People's Republic of China.

Not only would a weakened United States present less of a threat to Soviet influence in Asia, but in Europe as well, where Stalin's real ambitions lay.

[27] The CCR became a form of payment for China's continued involvement in the Korean War and a demonstration that Stalin was a trustworthy and supportive ally.

[27] The return of the CCR was used to show the closeness of the Sino-Soviet Alliance to the outside world as well:"We can see how scrupulously the Soviet Government abides by its international treaties and agreements.

Using the return of the CCR as a sign of goodwill, the Soviet Union also gained huge political capital and bargaining power with the new Friendship Treaty.

Furthermore, the CCR was significantly underdeveloped compared to the remainder of the Soviet Trans-Siberian Railway (which was being rapidly modernized after World War II).

With Khrushchev's Secret Speech and the slow deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations in 1956, China began to turn away from blindly copying the Soviet model.

This connection was seen as important for defense as well as trade, because it allowed the Soviet Union to rapidly deploy troops to the Mongolian border.

"If we remember the differences in Russian and Chinese character, and between the personalities of their leaders, the paths to Communism may eventually follow separate courses, and these two territorial giants may even become hostile to each other.

The PLA used the former CCR to move troops to the two border posts of Manzhouli and Suifenhe, as well as to the connecting railways to the battle sites on the Ussuri River.

With the return of the Chinese Changchun Railway, the People's Republic of China received all of the fixed and liquid assets of the CCR valued at 2.28 billion RMB or US$600 million.

According to historian Zhang Shengfa, "these immensely valuable assets allowed China to enhance development of the railroad industry and economy, particularly in the Northeast region.

As a modern operating railway, the CCR provided a ready-made transportation network that connected raw materials, international borders, and ocean ports, all of which were required for the new heavy industrial enterprises.

Furthermore, the important railway junctions and terminals of the CCR were focal points of the 156 major projects including the cities of Harbin, Shenyang, Dalian, and Changchun.

Not only did the materials to build the factories, mines, refineries, and steel mills come to the sites via the CCR, but also the railway was essential in transporting the new labor base to these areas.

The vast coal reserves at Jixi were seen as a key economic resource for China, and were completely reconstructed and expanded during the First Five Year Plan.

While it is a happy coincidence that the largest oilfield happened to lie along the CCR, without the ease of transportation provided by the railway, this oil field certainly could not have been exploited as effectively nor as quickly.

Another impact of the Korean War was that the Soviet Union retained favorable shipment rights on the CCR until 1955 as a means to deliver aid to North Korea.