The Móng Cái international border gate in the northeastern province of Quảng Ninh has seen trade volume decline so far this year, but trade turnover has increased compared to the same period last year, according to head of the border gate management board Trần Bích Ngọc.

From January 1 to March 10, the total amount of imports and exports through the gate reached 192,451 tonnes, marking a year-on-year decrease of 22.6 per cent.

However, the total turnover of goods through it reached US$531.58 million, a year-on-year increase of 30.46 per cent with export turnover reaching $325 million. A total of 466 businesses carried out trade procedures at the border gate, an increase of 139 over the same period last year.

According to the border gate management board, in the period under review, the total number of entries and exits through Bắc Luân Bridge I border gate neared 1.27 million, an increase of 2,755 per cent over the same period last year. Of the figure, nearly 634,170 entries were recorded, an increase of 2,905 per cent over the same period in 2023; and more than 633, 600 exits were made, an increase of 2,619 per cent.

At the Bắc Luân Bridge II border gate, the total number of entries and exits reached 22,100, with 10,327 entries and 11,773 exits. The border gate was originally only for the trade of goods, but from December 11, 2023, immigration activities were allowed.

Ngọc said that the number of tourists has increased sharply since the 2024 Lunar New Year Holiday. Especially since the beginning of this month after the meeting between officials from China’s Guangxi province and Việt Nam’s Lạng Sơn, Quảng Ninh, Cao Bằng and Hà Giang provinces, trade activities at  Móng Cái International Border Gate have been busier in line with a high-level agreement between the two countries.

She said this signals a return of international tourists, mainly Chinese, to Quảng Ninh, and noted that immigration activities through the border gate are back to the level prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. —VNS