Rail freight between China, North Korea shut down amid COVID-19 spike in Chinese city

Amid the COVID-19 situation in Chinese cities, rail freight between China and North Korea has been halted again, just eight days after the countries lifted an almost two-year-long long trade cut-off.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, Beijing and Pyongyang sealed off the 880-mile Sino-Korean border and suspended trade to prevent the virus from crossing the border into North Korea, Radio Free Asia reported.

The clampdown of the freight is expected to worsen the situation of the North Korean market which is dependent on the purchase and sale of Chinese imports. This has also led to skyrocketing of food prices in North Korea.

The freight was reopened on November 1 but a new COVID-19 spike in China's Dandong has dashed the hopes of North Korea.

"The COVID-19 emergency quarantine has been bolstered in the Dandong area," a resident of the city told Radio Free Asia.

Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities are also locking down other areas of Dandong's surrounding Liaoning province, including Dalian, about 190 miles (300 km) to the west, a Chinese citizen of Korean descent told RFA.

Meanwhile, at least 62 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Chinese mainland on Monday, Chinese media reported.

The Chinese mainland on Monday reported 43 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, Xinhua reported citing the National Health Commission report.

Of the new local cases, 12 were reported in Hebei, eight in Heilongjiang, seven in Sichuan, five in Liaoning, four in Gansu, three in Jiangxi, and two each in Henan and Yunnan, Chinese media reported.

( With inputs from ANI )

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