In the past few days Mu Hong, the director of the Horgos Jingtian Trading company, has been busy organizing workers loading many tons of fruit and vegetables onto trucks that have driven to the Chinese border city of Horgos from Kazakhstan. These will be shipped back to Kazakhstan, and then sold to other Asian countries.

After resuming production at the beginning of March, the company exported a total of 20 trucks of fruit and vegetables to Kazakhstan; 440 tons of produce. Meanwhile five truckloads of chocolate and sweets were imported into China from Kazakhstan, totaling 110 tons.

In an interview, Mu said that "Today is my happiest day since the coronavirus outbreak started. Just today, four trucks of fruits and vegetables have been delivered to Kazakhstan, roughly more than 1,000 tons. It's a good sign for the business."

The company was officially opened in 2007, and mainly does business with Central Asian countries. Normally, they ship an average of 21 tons of fruit and vegetables every day to Kazakhstan, including tomatoes, garlic and apples. This produce is shipped in from Shandong and other inland provinces.

Due to the recent coronavirus epidemic, the company was unable to resume work and bared financial losses. At the end of February, the local government brought them supplies of thermometers and disinfectant free of charge, and assisted with customs clearance procedures.

In the city of Horgos, many companies relying on business exporting and importing from Central Asian countries. The is city located on the border of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is China's closest and most convenient port to central Asia, the Middle East and Europe. While containing the coronavirus, the local government has been actively coordinating with customs and border officials to provide the best, most convenient solutions for enterprises in China and from abroad.

Another trading company importing wheat bran from Kazakhstan, has seen a large uptick in demand in recent months. Since production resumed, the company has sped up its operations and hopes to gradually achieve monthly import processing to 13,000 tons in order to reach their annual production goal. This is certainly many business owners' wish at this border city.

(Horgos TV Station also contributed to this story.)