The Chinese Eastern Railway/大清东省铁路/中国东方铁路/北满铁路/中国长春铁路/ Китайско-Восточная железная дорога/КВЖД/Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga/KVZhD) is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (also known as Manchuria). The Russian Empire constructed the line from 1897 to 1902 using a concession from the Qing dynasty government of Imperial China. The system linked Chita with Vladivostok in the Russian Far East and with Port Arthur, then an Imperial Russian leased ice-free port. The T-shaped line consisted of three branches:
the western branch, now the Harbin–Manzhouli Railway
the eastern branch, now the Harbin–Suifenhe Railway
the southern branch, now part of the Beijing–Harbin Railway
which intersected in Harbin. Saint Petersburg administered the railway and the concession, known as the Chinese Eastern Railway Zone, from the city of Harbin, which grew into a major rail-hub.
The southern branch of the CER, known as the Japanese South Manchuria Railway from 1906, became a locus and partial casus belli for the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, the 1929 Sino-Soviet Conflict, and the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937–1945. The Soviet Union returned the Chinese Eastern Railway to the People's Republic of China in 1952
the western branch, now the Harbin–Manzhouli Railway
the eastern branch, now the Harbin–Suifenhe Railway
the southern branch, now part of the Beijing–Harbin Railway
which intersected in Harbin. Saint Petersburg administered the railway and the concession, known as the Chinese Eastern Railway Zone, from the city of Harbin, which grew into a major rail-hub.
The southern branch of the CER, known as the Japanese South Manchuria Railway from 1906, became a locus and partial casus belli for the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, the 1929 Sino-Soviet Conflict, and the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937–1945. The Soviet Union returned the Chinese Eastern Railway to the People's Republic of China in 1952