Authorities in the southern province of An Giang held an opening ceremony for a new border gate with Cambodia on Thursday.

The border gates in Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces have resumed operation after a week-long suspension of customs clearance for the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet).

On January 8 - the first day China reopened all land border gates - thousands of people lined up to complete procedures to enter China via Vietnam-China border gates in Mong Cai and Lang Son provinces.

The congestion of container trucks carrying goods for export at the border gates in the northern province of Lang Son has improved significantly since mid-June, backed by a faster customs clearance process, said the local trade authority.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued a document on the tourism reopening plan in the new normal.

The northern provinces of Lao Cai and Quang Ninh have decided to temporarily halt receiving vehicles of fresh fruits for export to China via some of their border gates and crossings, as congestion is still lingering there.

China will resume customs clearance at three border crossings in Quang Ninh Province from January 11, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs has informed that many cargo trucks from Vietnam are still jammed in the China side of the Northern border gates and vice versa due to strict control of vehicle flow for Covid-19 prevention purposes.

It has been more than a week since the congestion of trucks carrying agricultural products to China at the Vietnam-China border gates in Quang Ninh Province began. 

As China has tightened its anti-Covid measures, some 4,000 container trucks carrying agricultural products have been stuck at border gates in the northern province of Lang Son and 1,500 others at the Mong Cai Border Gate in Quang Ninh Province.

 The Ministry of Industry and Trade has requested northern provinces to promote cooperation with their Chinese partners to implement disease control processes and allow goods through the border.

The Vietnamese Government has decided to suspend cross-border activities of individuals at main and secondary border gates, and trails in border areas sharing with Cambodia and Laos from April 1.

Vietnam has seen positive signs in the fight against the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), heard a meeting of the national steering committee for prevention and control of the disease on February 17.

 Authorities in China’s Guangxi Province have decided to extend the closure of border markets and continue to suspend the trading of goods by individuals until the end of February.

The outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has affected Vietnam’s trade with not only China but also other markets, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai.

The Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade urged firms to closely watch exports of agricultural products to China to prevent goods getting stuck at border gates before and after the Lunar New Year holiday.

Communicable diseases from around the world could enter Viet Nam and spread easily if the country does not improve prevention and control, said Tran Dac Phu, director of the Ministry of Health’s Preventive Medicine Department.

VietNamNet Bridge - The heavy reliance on China as an input material and finished product supplier is seen as a big problem for Vietnam. 

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung expressed his delight at meeting World Bank (WB) Country Director in Viet Nam, Victoria Kwakwa, in Ha Noi yesterday,