SHANGHAI, May 19. /TASS/. The situation with cargoes delayed at overland entry points between Russia and China has slightly improved, but it is still a far cry from what was before the pandemic, Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in the People’s Republic of China Alexey Dakhnovsky told TASS on Wednesday.

"The situation at entry points is far from what was in the pre-COVID period," he said. The traffic at border checkpoints is less intense, the period for cargoes to pass through the border has increased, with issues occasionally occurring that are manually solved, the trade envoy explained, adding that it brings additional expenses, and sometimes losses, to businesses.

The issue of improving the work of entry points has been discussed with the Ministry of Commerce of China, according to Dakhnovsky. However, regional and local coronavirus response centers are authorized to introduce extra control policies, meaning the decision on their easing or lifting are taken by them as well, he explained.

The situation has obviously moved off dead center, with the number of trains and cars rising in April-May 2021 compared with the same period last year, but the recovery to the pre-COVID parameters is still far, the envoy said. "There is cautious optimism so far, and we should continue cooperation in that field," he noted.