Ereenhot, the border city with the largest land port between China and Mongolia, is gradually resuming its pre-COVID-19 business prosperity.

This is in the wake of the announcement made by the Chinese health authorities to downgrade the management of COVID-19 from category A to category B, starting Jan 8.

Based on the new policy, the passenger channel at Ereenhot port has been resumed, which means Mongolian merchants and visitors can enter the city to purchase goods with fast customs clearances.

From Jan 8, an average of more than 500 people entered China through the checkpoint and over 270 people left the country through the port every day.

Ulan, a merchant from Mongolia, said she enjoyed the customs clearance convenience.

She told the Inner Mongolia Daily in an interview that she chose products she liked in the Wenzhou International Mall in Ereenhot.

"The resumption of the customs clearances at the Ereenhot passenger channel surprised many of us," Ulan said.

"I was so happy to see the familiar city and friends here," she added, barely able to conceal her excitement.

Ulan told the paper that since there was a one-month interval between the Mongolian Spring Festival and the traditional Chinese Spring Festival this year, many Mongolian merchants were coming to Ereenhot to buy goods during this period.

Most of them bought a lot of fashionable clothes and prepared to bring them to customers and friends when they returned home.

Mr Wang, who is in charge of a store at Wenzhou International Mall, said that 50 down jackets were sold on the first day when customs clearances resumed and shipments were increasing every day.

Nowadays, vehicles with Mongolian license plates can increasingly be seen on the streets of Ereenhot – pointing to the restoration of normal conditions in the port city.