Russian freight cars containing timber in Suifenhe, a major Chinese border city with Russia, on September 26, 2018 Photo: IC

As the number of imported coronavirus cases from Russia is on the rise, land Chinese ports bordering Russia temporarily shut passenger channels but cargo trade is continuing as normal, and has even seen a slight rise.

All the passenger channels for Chinese land border crossings with Russia have been temporarily shut down, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Chinese Embassy in Russia.

However, Hunchun customs in Northeast China's Jilin Province and Manzhouli customs in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region confirmed to the Global Times on Wednesday that cargo trade is still normal. These two ports, along with Suifenhe port in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, are all large ports for trade with Russia.

Several Chinese companies selling goods to Russia also said their exports have not been impacted by the coronavirus.

A vegetable import and export company in Shouguang, East China's Shandong Province told the Global Times on Wednesday that exports to Russia are normal, without any impact from COVID-19. "Since March, we send a 20-foot-equivalent-unit load of vegetables to Russia every three or four days," he said, noting that another cargo will set off on Friday.

Duan said he mainly exports bell pepper and broccoli via Manzhouli port and Horgos port in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Li Judong, general manager of Aksu Hengtong Juice Co, which produces concentrated juice, told the Global Times that normal exports of 2,000 tons of juice a month to Russia via Alashankou port in Xinjiang are normal, except a short halt during the Spring Festival holiday.

It's worth noting that China's imports of certain products from Russia surged despite the coronavirus. According to data from Manzhouli customs, a total of 17,000 tons of Russian flaxseed were imported to China via the port in the first quarter, up 325 percent year-on-year. During the period, about 36,700 tons of food were imported via Manzhouli, up 74.8 percent year-on-year.

As for Hunchun, the first quarter saw cross-border commerce with Russia reach 150 million yuan ($21.2 million), a huge year-on-year increase, according to an article posted on the local government's website.

Amid the coronavirus, China-Russia economic and trade cooperation showed strong resilience. In the first two months of the year, bilateral trade grew 5.6 percent to reach $17.2 billion, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

Global Times