Kyrgyzstan asks China to restart goods shipments

Kyrgyzstan has asked China to restart the movement of goods across the Chinese-Kyrgyz border, suspended by Beijing in early February, a senior Kyrgyz official said on Monday. Kyrgyzstan's convenient location and swiftness in joining the World Trade Organisation have made it an important hub for Chinese consumer goods trade in the post-Soviet region of Central Asia.

Such trade has, in turn, become a key sector of the Kyrgyz economy which is now being hit hard by the global coronavirus outbreak. "We have been in talks with our Chinese colleagues for a week now," Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov told a briefing, adding that shipments had been suspended by Beijing rather than Bishkek.

"We have suggested opening the border for consumer goods. The situation in China allows us to discuss those matters. I think that very soon the border will be opened for Chinese goods." The border is also closed to people who are not Kyrgyz citizens.

Citing expectations of a large current account gap, the Bishkek government has secured $121 million in emergency funding from the International Monetary Fund and is in talk with other creditors and donors about additional aid and a standstill on debt repayment.