All operations suspended at Vietnam-China border gate after flooding: official

Import-export and immigration activities have been temporarily suspended at the Lao Cai-Hekou International Border Gate due to flooding and rising river levels.

Vuong Trinh Quoc, head of the provincial economic zone management board, said that on Monday, the Hekou Border Control Station (China) sent a representative to the Kim Thanh Border Gate (Vietnam) to discuss the situation.

Due to flooding and rising river levels, both sides agreed to temporarily suspend import-export activities at Kim Thanh International Road Border Gate No. II. The suspension was formally enacted by the Chinese side at 1:15 p.m. on Monday.

From early Monday morning until the suspension, about 145 trucks had crossed the border to China and approximately 40 trucks were awaiting their turn at the Kim Thanh Border Gate.

At 1:30 p.m. that same day, the Hekou Foreign Affairs Agency (China) issued a request to temporarily suspend entry and exit through the Lao Cai International Road Border Gate (Huqiao bridge) due to flooding and a power outage at the Chinese interdisciplinary office.

The suspension of entry and exit at the Lao Cai-Hekou International Border Gate will remain in effect from early afternoon of Monday, September 9 until further notice, officials said.

On average, 500-600 import and export vehicles pass through the border gate daily, primarily carrying agricultural products.

The suspension came after super typhoon Yagi, the most powerful in Asia this year, caused heavy rains in northern Vietnam after sweeping through several coastal provinces and Hanoi last weekend.

The typhoon has left a trail of death and destruction in its wake with the latest tally reading 82 dead and 64 missing (as of 1 p.m. on Tuesday), hundreds injured and severe material damage spread across 26 provinces and cities.

On Monday, the provinces of Phu Tho, Yen Bai, and Tuyen Quang banned vehicles from crossing nine bridges over concerns that strong floodwaters could collapse them. The move followed a bridge collapse in Phu Tho.

On Tuesday morning, the Hanoi Department of Transport announced restrictions on vehicles crossing the Chuong Duong bridge, one of the largest bridges spanning the Red River.