Stronger yuan curbs passenger traffic at Russia-China border crossing

CHITA, December 10. /TASS/. A sharp rise in value for China's yuan currency has curbed passenger traffic by almost 17 percent at a major crossing in Russia’s eastern Siberian region of Zabaikalsk, bordering China, the regional customs authority said on Wednesday. Some 50,700 Russians passed through the automobile checkpoint - the largest between the two countries - in November, 18 percent down on the same period last year, Marina Boyko, spokeswoman at the customs office in the city of Chita, told TASS. “There is also a decline in the number of those entering Russia from China,” she said, noting that only 47,600 Chinese crossed the border last month compared with 56,500 a year ago. “The situation is similar at the border checkpoint in the village of Starotsurukhaitui,” Boyko said. In November, China's yuan increased from 6.8 to 8 Russian roubles. Residents of Zabaikalsk, Siberia and the Far East, previously travelling to the Chinese border town of Manzhouli to buy cheaper clothes and spend time at Chinese restaurants, say that prices have become roughly equal on both sides of the border. “Women's boots, which used to cost 1.5-2 times less in China than in Chita, are now sold there for the same price expressed in roubles,” Chita resident Victoria Afanasieva told TASS. Russia’s Zabaikalsk region unites railway and automobile international checkpoints, handling more than 60 percent of Russia-China trade. The Chinese currency in Chita banks on Wednesday can be purchased at an average price of 8.8 to 9 Russian roubles. Read more