Rasuwagadhi Border Reopens After Six Months, Cross-Border Trade to Resume from New Year

The Rasuwagadhi border point reopened on Sunday after six months of disruption caused by floods and landslides, restoring one of the country’s key northern trade routes with China.

According to the state-run  national news agency RSS, cargo trucks from the Nepali side began heading towards Kerung from 7:00 am following the construction of a Bailey bridge over the Lhende River at the border. Chief District Officer of Rasuwa, Rajesh Panthi, told RSS that Chinese authorities informed their Nepali counterparts that the Rasuwagadhi checkpoint would formally reopen from January 1, 2026.

Inspector Bikram Kunwar of the Timure border police post reportedly said Nepali truck and container drivers, along with business representatives, have left for Kerung to retrieve cargo containers stranded there since July 8. The containers had crossed the border before floods and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall damaged the Friendship Bridge.

Chief Customs Officer Tulsi Prasad Bhattarai told RSS that the prolonged closure of the checkpoint since July 8 had resulted in a customs revenue loss of around Rs 20 billion compared to the same period last year.

The flood in the Lhendekhola, a tributary of the Trishuli River, on July 8 also damaged the under-construction dry port at Timure, while several sections of the 16-kilometre Rasuwagadhi–Syafrubesi road were washed away. – With inputs from RSS