Trade through major border points resumed between Feb. 3 and 5, but between 600 and 1,200 trucks were still queuing to cross the border in Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces, customs authorities said on Tuesday.
Although China has fully resumed trade with Vietnam through major border gates, the Ministry of Commerce had warned that congestion could continue as customs clearance would not resume at pre-pandemic pace due to tightened lockdown measures. Covid-19 safety.
The growing number of vehicles arriving at the border is further straining authorities’ efforts to ease congestion, officials said.
“Almost all vehicles that have gone before Tet, Lunar New Year holidays, from January 29 to February 6, Were released. However, trucks continue to arrive from other provinces, causing the queue of nearly 570 vehicles,” said a customs official from the international border of Mong Cai (Quang Ninh).
Meanwhile, Dong Dang Economic Zone (Lang Son) officials said that as of the morning of February 7, 1,221 trucks lined up at the border – 634 at the Huu Nghi border gate and 587 at the border gate. Tan Thanh border.
On January 31, 474 vehicles were blocked at the Huu Nghi, Tan Thanh and Chi Ma border posts.
From February 3 to 6, 313 trucks were evacuated after the reopening of the Huu Nghi and Tan Thanh border posts. But an increase in the number of vehicles arriving at the border continued to cause traffic jams, officials said.
To reduce the risk of losses in cross-border trade, Vietnamese authorities have called on farmers and exporters to sell their goods to China through official quotas, which involves drawing up sales contracts before delivery.
Before Tet holiday, up to 6,000 trucks had lined up across the Chinese border after Chinese authorities tightened Covid-19 security measures. Technical difficulties of the grid system are other reasons cited by Chinese officials for border congestion.
According to Vietnamese customs, China is the biggest buyer of Vietnamese agricultural products, with 54% of the total export value in the first 11 months of 2021.
