Petrol prices have almost doubled in Myitkyina City, the Kachin Sate capital, following the closure of the border crossing to China in Kan Paik Ti Town, Waingmaw Township, Kachin State.

The Kachin Independence Army's (KIA) captured of the nearby border town of Pang War (Panwa) in Chipwi Township, Kachin State on 19 October 2024. This left Kan Paik Ti as the only junta-held border crossing in Kachin State until the Chinese closed the border there on 22 October 2024.

Before the closure of the Kan Paik Ti border crossing 92 octane petrol was 6,000 MMK (kyats) a litre and 95 octane petrol was 6,500 kyats a litre in Myitkyina City. Now 92 octanes is 9,000 kyats a litre and 94 octane is 11,000 kyats a litre.

A resident of Myitkyina City said: “The price of one litre of 95 octane is already 10,000 MMK at gas stations, while street stalls selling bottled gasoline are charging about 11,000 MMK per litre. As long as the border trading post remains closed, gasoline prices will continue to rise.”

Due to the petrol shortages several petrol stations in the Myitkyina suburbs have had to close and others in the city have restricted their opening hours.

A resident of Swe Set Ward in Myitkyina City said: “As of now, all the gas stations in downtown Myitkyina remain open, but in suburban wards like Shwe Set, two or three gas stations have closed.”

It is not just petrol prices that have risen in Myitkyina City since the closure of the Kan Paik Ti border crossing. Prices for basic food items and consumer goods have also risen.

Currently China has closed all its border crossings to Kachin State border crossings, which are now all held by revolutionary forces except for the Kan Paik Ti border crossing.

The Chinese authorities closed the border crossings to the Kachin State towns of Lwegel, Pangwar and Laiza on 18 October and to Hpimaw on 26 October. Previously there had also been a border crossing to Kham Phan in Kachin State but that has not reopened since closing during the COVID-19 lockdown.