Major border crossing between China, Myanmar opens partially
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Yangon: An official announced Sunday that a crucial trade crossing between Myanmar and China had partially reopened after being closed for years due to a pandemic.
In April 2020, Covid-19 closed the Muse-Ruili checkpoint, one of the busiest in the Southeast Asian country, AFP reported.
An official in Myanmar's northern Shan state said that one of Muse town's border gates opened on Saturday at 7:00 am (1230 GMT).
According to U Min Thein, vice-chairman of the Muse Rice Commodity Exchange, six trucks made the brief relay trip at the Mang Wein bridge.
"China only allowed us to export food and drink at the moment," U Min Thein told AFP Sunday.
However, he claimed that they were not allowed to send over staples of the economy including rice, broken rice, beans, and watermelons.
Traders needed to enter through the Kyinsankyawt border gate outside of Muse for those, he said.
According to official media, the Kyinsankyawt checkpoint only partially reopened in May of last year.
According to U Min Thein, China shipped food items, electrical appliances, medical equipment, consumer and household goods, and construction and industrial machinery.
"But China had not yet allowed people to cross the border," he said.
Both sides have repeatedly delayed the reopening of the Muse checkpoint, and the Chinese city of Ruili has been placed under lockdown in an effort to stop the spread of Covid.
China recently announced the end of its zero-Covid policy, and since then, infection rates have skyrocketed.