Citizens of Vietnam, China excitedly return home on 1st day of border reopening

Giang Thi Mai, a Hmong woman whose hometown is in Yen Son District in Tuyen Quang Province, is the first Vietnamese citizen to step over the border demarcation line between Vietnam and China to return home at around 8:45 a.m. on January 8.

Sharing with SGGP reporter, Mai said that she went to China to get married three years ago. Because the pandemic lasted a long time, she could not return to her hometown. She felt blissful when the two countries' governments created conditions for people to return home to celebrate the Lunar New Year. When she returned to Vietnam, she felt secure with the pandemic prevention and control and more secure when meeting her relatives.

In the morning, some Vietnamese citizens living and doing business in China for a long time also successfully entered the country through the Mong Cai International Border Gate. Meanwhile, from 8 a.m., hundreds of Chinese people living, working, and studying in Vietnam were present at the border gate to wait for an exit.

It was recorded that at the waiting area for exit procedures at Mong Cai International Border Gate in Mong Cai City of Quang Ninh Province, hundreds of Chinese people were enthusiastically guided by border guards, customs, and medical quarantine forces and complied with the regulations there.

Sharing his joy with SGGP reporter Chen ZuoQing, whose hometown is in Sichuan Province in China, said he went to Vietnam to work as a manager for a business 20 years ago, got married, and had children in Vietnam. Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, he could not return to his hometown to visit his relatives and parents. Coming home this time, he brought a lot of gifts from Vietnam.

A representative of the Mong Cai International Border Gate Management Board also said that most of the Chinese citizens returning home this time were experts, workers, and traders with working visas in Vietnam over the past time. On the first day that China removes the "Zero Covid-19" policy, Chinese authorities informed the Vietnamese authorities and the local government to only handle entry procedures for Chinese citizens with passports and not handle procedures for people entering for tourism or border residents entering China by entry and exit permits as before the pandemic.

At the Huu Nghi International Border Gate in Lang Son Province, groups of Chinese people queued up to wait for exit procedures to return home from 7:00 a.m. Colonel Vi Van Can, a Politician of the Huu Nghi International Border Guard Station, said that a large number of Chinese people exited through the border gate because they had waited for the date of January 8 when they would only need a passport and a negative Covid-19 test result within 48 hours to return home without medical isolation.

Few people were entering Vietnam from China at Mong Cai International Border Gate and Huu Nghi International Border Gate this morning. These people studied and worked in China for a long time and were stuck there due to the "Zero Covid-19" policy.

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