Vietnam urges China to urgently reopen border gates as trade stalls

HANOI (REUTERS) - Vietnam's Trade Ministry has asked the authorities in China's Guangxi region to take urgent measures to ease congestion at border crossings after China stepped up its border controls with neighbours to follow zero-Covid-19 policies, state media reported.

Pictures and video footage from state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA) showed thousands of trucks being held up at the border between Vietnam and Guangxi in southern China, following reports that imported Covid-19 cases had been detected in Guangxi region.

"Anti-virus prevention measures that Guangxi is applying under the 'zero-Covid' policies, including closing border gates or stopping fruit imports, are overly unnecessary," VNA reported, citing a trade ministry statement.

"This disruption has caused negative impact on bilateral trade and great losses to businesses and people on both sides," the ministry added.

n response, Guangxi trade officials said they would increase the duration of customs clearance and pass along other proposals to mitigate the border situation to higher authorities, according to the VNA report.

China is Vietnam's largest trading partner, and the biggest market for its fruit and vegetables.

Trade turnover of agriculture products between the two countries in the first 11 months of 2021 rose 19.5 per cent against the same period in 2020 to US$11.3 billion (S$15.2 billion), official data showed.