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Lao traders suffer after curb on import entry points into China
Traders in the northern provinces of Laos now have fewer options for getting their goods into China after Chinese authorities banned imports through local border checkpoints.
All products, including agricultural goods, can now enter China only at the main international border crossing at Boten in Luang Namtha province, according to Lao industry and commerce officials.
The change has affected exports over the past few months after Chinese authorities at local border checkpoints refused to allow imports from Laos.
Lao authorities have not received any official information from their Chinese counterparts as to why imports have been banned at these locations.
However, Lao and Chinese people should be able to travel via local border checkpoints without any goods, an official from Phongsaly province’s Industry and Commerce Department told Vientiane Times on Tuesday.
In Phongsaly, the restrictions are being implemented at the Paktha border checkpoint in Bounneua district. This checkpoint has traditionally been an important trading route between Laos and China, particularly for traders from northern Laos.
Traders in Oudomxay province are facing the same problem at the Phou Lakkham border checkpoint in Namor district.
Previously, Chinese authorities allowed the import of goods through checkpoints in Oudomxay once a week, but now the practice has been stopped.
The problem has impacted many traders in Phongsaly and Oudomxay as they have to spend extra to transport their goods to the border crossing in Luang Namtha province.
The main agricultural exports from Laos to China are tea, bananas, rubber, fertiliser, cassava and sweetcorn.
However, traders in Luang Namtha province have not been affected because Chinese businesses in the region are able to export goods to China through both local and international border checkpoints, according to the provincial import and export section of the Industry and Commerce Department.
China is now the largest foreign investor in Laos and the country’s second largest trading partner.
The increasing number of Chinese investors in Laos and the surge in cooperation projects between both governments is the main reason for the increase in imports from China.
Laos’ exports to China are expected to increase this year, while imports will decline, according to the latest projection from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. VIENTIANE TIMES