China's City Of Manzhouli Limits Freight Traffic With Russia Over COVID-19 - Moscow

The authorities of the Chinese city of Manzhouli city have decided to limit freight traffic with the neighboring Russian region of Zabaykalsk starting on April 17 due to COVID-19 concerns, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2020) The authorities of the Chinese city of Manzhouli city have decided to limit freight traffic with the neighboring Russian region of Zabaykalsk starting on April 17 due to COVID-19 concerns, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

"The authorities of the Chinese city of Manzhouli, neighboring with Zabaykalsky Territory, are restricting cargo traffic through Manzhouli road checkpoint starting from 00:00 on April 17 [16:00 GMT on April 16]. Manzhouli's foreign affairs department, in a letter to the Investment Development Agency of [Russia's] Irkutsk Region, informs that Chinese control authorities will let no more than 10-12 cars through per day.

The letter also states that the restrictions are a forced measure caused by the deterioration of the epidemiological situation in Manzhouli," the ministry's office in the Siberian city of Chita wrote on Facebook.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, some 100 Russian trucks pass through the Zabaykalsk-Manzhouli international road checkpoint daily and all drivers have to be tested for COVID-19.

On a global scale, more than 2 million people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus so far, and over 139,000 have died. Meanwhile, the number of recoveries has surpassed 528,000, according to John Hopkins University.