Driver task forces facilitate Vietnam-China border trade

Over 100 container trucks crossed Vietnam’s Kim Thanh Border Gate No.2 with China in the northern province of Lao Cai Sunday, the 10th day an initiative had been implemented to facilitate border trade between the two countries amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Lao Cai customs authorities on February 7 established a team of around 100 container drivers to operate vehicles in the border area to spare other drivers from having to be quarantined for 14 days upon returning from China.

When Chinese drivers cross the border gate into Vietnam, they will rest inside a 400-square-meter quarantine zone and hand over their vehicles to Vietnamese customs authorities.

All Chinese drivers have to go through a temperature check. If any of them have a high temperature, they will not be allowed to complete the cross-border trade paperwork.

A member of the Vietnamese driver task force does the paperwork for taking over a Chinese vehicle and drive it to an import zone nearby. Each Vietnamese driver makes 8-10 trips a day, wearing protective clothes and gloves.

All vehicles from China are sterilized before being transferred to a new Vietnamese driver.
Pham Hung, Deputy Manager at Kim Thanh Border Gate, said the initiative allows trade activities to continue as usual without direct interaction between Vietnamese and Chinese drivers.

After making a trip the Vietnamese driver returns to a quarantine zone and is required to go through three health checks a day.

Trinh Xuan Hop, one of the drivers, said he was not allowed to leave the quarantine zone during work hours.
“This is a reasonable solution amid the outbreak. I wear protective clothes so I’m not worried about being infected.”

China has also established a team of drivers on its side to take over Vietnamese containers.
Lao Cai’s initiative has resulted in 1,500 vehicles passing through the border gate in 10 days.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has praised the initiative and suggested the same method be applied at other border gates.