The value of Sino-Myanmar border trade plunged sharply in the first two months of the current fiscal year due to a drastic drop in exports through the Muse gate, which usually sees the largest trade among the border points, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry, State Media reported.

The decline in trade at the Muse gate has been attributed to China’s trade suspension on some agro-products since the second week of October.  About 75 per cent of the trade between China and Myanmar is conducted through Muse. It also handles the majority of the country’s rice exports. China has set import quotas on some agro-products, including rice, this year. Tax is exorbitantly high for merchants once the import volume exceeds the quota limit, resulting in illegal flow of rice into China. Therefore, China has been confiscating rice brought in illegally in the border areas.

In the last two months, the Muse gate registered exports worth US$400.9 million and imports worth $248.2 million, totalling $649 million. During the same period last year, the total trade through the gate stood at $957.38 million.  In the current fiscal year, Myanmar’s border trade with China stood at $779.7 million, decreasing sharply from $1 billion during the same period last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce, the report said.