Pakistan-China high altitude border at Khunjerab closed after 10-day relaxation

Islamabad: The Pakistan and China border at Khunjerab Pass closed on Friday at midnight after a temporary opening of 10 days, Pakistan’s state-run media reported. 
At 5,000 meters above sea level, Khunjerab is the highest paved international crossing in the world, and a major trade route between China and Pakistan, as well as an important gateway to South Asia and Europe. China mainly imports textiles, agricultural products and daily commodities through the pass, and exports plants and herbs.
Both countries had agreed to open the border between December 15-25 to allow over two dozen Pakistani containers to cross over.
The border outpost on the Karakoram Highway usually remains open for trade and travel from May till November-end every year, after which it closes for almost five months in winter. But Pakistani containers have now been stranded in China since December 2019, when the border closed for the winter months, following which all frontiers, including Khunjerab, were indefinitely closed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus
With the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – a multi-billion-dollar project of which Gilgit-Baltistan is the entry point — Pakistan’s trade volumes through Khunjerab surged last year, but have remained static in 2020 due to the border’s yearlong closure. Traders have said hundreds of millions in losses have already been accrued.