CNI News

5 Jan 2023

China has officially issued an announcement that all Myanmar-Chinese border gates in Muse, which have been closed for almost three years, would be reopened starting from 8th January, according to border merchants in Muse.

The Chinese side has closed all border gates since early April, 2021 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the gates will be reopened on 8th January, 2023, Vice Chairman U Min Thein of the Muse Rice Exchange told the CNI.

 A border gate at the China-Myanmar border.

He said, "China issued a statement dated 2nd January to relevant authorities, stating that the Muse-Jiegao, Manwain, Hsinphyushin and Nandawgate would be reopened from 8 am to 11.30 pm, starting from 8th January." However, the statement did not clearly express how to handle COVID-19 restrictions despite opening the gates for trade and movement of people.

Although the border gates will be reopened soon, it is still necessary for Chinese authorities to ease COVID-19 restriction to return to normal before the outbreak of COVID-19, U Min Thein told the CNI.

He told the CNI, "The situation will gradually return to normal if Chinese authorities ease COVID-19 restrictions but this will not happen immediately. It could take about 6 months if Chinese authorities allow entries of people, vehicles, motorcycles and other vehicles to return to the situation before the pandemic in 2020."

 A border gate at the China-Myanmar border.

The border gates scheduled to reopen on 8th January include the Manwain Gate, which handles about 500 trucks a day, this will create trade and job opportunities for local residents.

As it is around the corner of the Chinese New Year, the watermelon market, which had almost collapsed previously, has recovered.