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China reopens Vietnam border after Covid-19 caution disrupts trade
- Closure of checkpoints following one Covid-19 case in border city of Dongxing had stranded thousands of trucks carrying goods from Vietnam
- Farm and frozen products to have priority to cross the border, Vietnam says, but some controls will remain in place because of the pandemic
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China has reopened a busy checkpoint on its border with Vietnam after a three-week closure over Covid-19 concerns, which had left thousands of trucks stranded and drawn criticism from Hanoi.
Cargo and traveller clearance in the coastal border city of Dongxing – bordering Mong Cai in Vietnam – resumed on Monday, the local pandemic control office said. It added that China still required arrivals from Vietnam to show a vaccination certificate and a negative Covid-19 test result from within the previous seven days.
Border clearance had also resumed on January 1 at the Friendship Pass in Pingxiang, and six days later at the Longbang and Pingmeng checkpoints in Baise, according to Vietnam News Agency (VNA).
The Chinese authorities had stepped up border controls in Dongxing since December 21 after the city reported one Covid-19 infection in routine tests. Under the country’s zero-Covid approach to infections, restrictions on movement and mass testing are used to try to stop the spread of cases as soon as any are found.
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Dongxing’s 210,000 residents were ordered to stay at home, while clearing of travellers and cargo was suspended. According to the city’s pandemic control office, local authorities had held “multiple rounds of coordination and communication” with their counterparts in Mong Cai since January 3.
“The two sides have agreed on the clearance procedures and pandemic control standards for the entry and exit of people, vehicles and goods,” the office said.
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