China closes land border with Russia to rein in coronavirus cases
- All checkpoints shut down and no word on when they will reopen
- Flood of cases into China stretching Inner Mongolia border city ‘beyond capacity’
China has closed its land border with Russia to contain a spike in the number of people with coronavirus entering the country from its northern neighbour.
In a statement on Wednesday night, the Chinese embassy in Moscow said all land border checkpoints for travellers between the two countries had been “temporarily closed”.
It did not say when the checkpoints would reopen.
Russia and China share a 4,300km border, with checkpoints at Heilongjiang, Jilin and Inner Mongolia.
The decision came as customs authorities in Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia, the largest land border checkpoint between the two neighbours, closed at 8pm on Wednesday after a series of arrivals from Russia that had “stretched its quarantine and testing capacity beyond limit”, Manzhouli authorities said in a statement.
Located on the Chinese border with Russia, Manzhouli is also a major land port of entry for Chinese workers to Russia’s agriculture and timber industry, according to state news agency Xinhua.