Mengding Qingshuihe Port Closes, All China-Myanmar Land Border Trade Ports Shut Down

According to the Trade Bureau of Myanmar's Ministry of Commerce, the Qingshuihe border trade port in northern Shan State on the China-Myanmar border has been closed since October 6. Except for anti-COVID-19 supplies and medical equipment, no other goods are allowed to enter or exit.

China and Myanmar have a total of 8 ports conducting border trade. Since April 7 of this year, multiple China-Myanmar border trade ports have been temporarily closed one after another. Since July 8, apart from the Qingshuihe port, all other China-Myanmar land border trade ports have been closed due to epidemic prevention and control needs. After the Qingshuihe port closed on October 6, all land border trade ports between China and Myanmar have been shut down.

China is the largest export destination for Myanmar's watermelons and muskmelons, with annual exports exceeding 800,000 tons, and 400-500 fruit trucks entering and exiting the border daily. After the port closure, Myanmar's watermelons will no longer be able to be exported to China. Affected by the epidemic and the port closures, after the National Day holiday ended, the Wanding melon and fruit trading market has begun repatriating over a thousand Myanmar migrant workers. Myanmar traders say the closure of the Qingshuihe port will make Myanmar's already severely shrunken export sector even worse.

The Qingshuihe port is the second-largest China-Myanmar border trade port after the Muse port, and is also Myanmar's first national-level international port. Myanmar mainly exports various agricultural products to China through this port. After the Qingshuihe port closes, Myanmar's agricultural products will not be able to be exported to China, and the prices of various goods imported from China will also rise.

China is Myanmar's largest export market. According to data from Myanmar's Ministry of Commerce, in the first 7 months of the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the bilateral trade volume between China and Myanmar was approximately 6.132 billion USD. Of this, Myanmar exported 3.18 billion USD to China and imported 2.95 billion USD from China.