Vietnam complains China’s border controls to stop coronavirus spreading are ‘overkill’
- Tight curbs introduced as part of the country’s zero-Covid strategy have seen thousands of trucks delayed at border crossings
- Vietnam’s trade ministry says the measures have caused ‘great losses’ to business and traders and urged the Chinese side to act to resolve the problem
“Pandemic prevention measures that Guangxi is applying under the ‘zero Covid’ policy, such as stopping border gate operations or stopping the import of some types of fruit, are overkill,” Vietnam’s trade ministry said after a video call with officials from the southwestern Chinese region on Friday.
“This disrupted the supply chain, negatively impacted the development of bilateral trade and caused great losses to businesses and people on both sides.”
The trade ministry urged China to take urgent measures to ease congestion at border crossings, including starting a pilot programme to allow fully vaccinated workers to alleviate manpower shortages by loading and unloading the trucks held up at Chinese border crossings, the trade ministry said.
Two day ago, Vietnamese deputy foreign minister Nguyen Minh Vu held a phone conversation with Chinese assistant foreign minister Wu Jianghao, during which the two sides agreed to stay in close communication as they worked to resolve the problem, state-owned Vietnam News Agency reported.
Trade between China and Vietnam, particularly overland, has been suffering after thousands of trucks were held up at the border following reports that imported Covid-19 cases had been detected in Pingxiang, a border city in Guangxi.
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