Cross-border land ports bustling again as restrictions lifted (4)

Customs officers welcome inbound travelers at Manzhouli Port, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. ANJILA/FOR CHINA DAILY

Right direction

Li Zhengjiang, general manager of a furniture company in Ruili, said that before the epidemic emerged, the business hired more than 200 workers from Myanmar, but for the past three years it experienced a shortage of employees.

"The border reopening means that everything is going in the right direction, and we are also welcoming the return of workers from Myanmar," he said.

Dingyu Duty Free, a shop selling alcohol, opened in the Jiegao Border Trade Area on Sunday. Total investment in the business is expected to reach 500 million yuan.

Guo Shaojing, head of the shop, said that as many tourists and business travelers passed through the port before the epidemic, it only took half a day for the company to decide to set up the shop.

"The local government has given us a great deal of help and has introduced favorable policies, enabling us to open the shop on the day the port reopened. We believe this is the right decision in line with China's opening-up policy, and we are confident in Ruili and our country," he said.

Hekou Port, the largest in Yunnan on the China-Vietnam border, resumed services on Sunday, with people from the two countries crossing the China-Vietnam Nanxi River Bridge and exchanging flowers to celebrate.

The port, which has reopened channels for pedestrians and vehicles, is connected to the Vietnamese province of Lao Cai by land and water. For years, sightseeing and cross-border tourism in the area has boomed, and cross-border public transportation have developed. In 2019, some 6.61 million inbound and outbound trips were made through Hekou Port.

Hekou Party Secretary Yu Yang said a Spring Festival gala will be held to strengthen bonds between people on both sides of the border. During the Spring Festival holiday, visits will be exchanged by Party and government delegations, while a series of investment promotions and cross-border tourism negotiations will also be conducted.

In Tibet autonomous region, Gyirong Port has reopened. Six cargo trucks loaded with products from Nepal were inspected at the port on Dec 28 as two-way trade resumed.

Located in the Himalayas, the port is 800 kilometers from the regional capital Lhasa and about 130 km from Kathmandu, capital of Nepal.

One of the biggest land ports between China and Nepal, it handles more than 60 percent of the two countries' trade.

The port went into full operation in 2014. Plans to expand the facility received national approval in 2017, with the port opening for business to third-destination countries in August that year.