China scales up land border control for COVID-19 prevention

China has scaled up land border control measures for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an official said Monday.

A truck from Kazakhstan enters China's border in Alataw Pass, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, April 11, 2020. Customs and border inspection officials at the Alataw Pass, a major land port in northwest China, are carrying out strict measures to prevent the COVID-19 epidemic from spreading through the port. [Photo/Xinhua]

Liu Haitao, with the National Immigration Administration, made the remarks at a press conference on China's response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Noting that most of the countries that share a land border with China have reported COVID-19 cases, he said the epidemic situation is escalating and China is facing growing pressure from imported COVID-19 cases via its land border.

Apart from land points of entry and passages, China's long land border has a large number of mountain passes, shortcuts, ferry crossings and small paths, making it hard to control, Liu said.

Measures have been taken to prevent non-essential border crossings to the greatest extent, he said, noting that the number of border residents crossing the border from both sides has gone down by 90 percent.

Functions of land points of entry and passages have been restricted to goods transportation only, while border ports and passages that have already been shut down remain closed, with strengthened protection, Liu said.

China has stepped up its fight against cross-border criminal activities through means including intensifying border patrols, encouraging people to provide information and strengthening law enforcement cooperation with neighboring countries, he said.