Mongolia’s exports and imports fell in January 2020 due to the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China, which has since spread to 25 other countries. China accounts nearly 95 percent of Mongolia’s import; most of them are car equipment, fuel, chemical products and iron.

According to B.Tseren, director at statistics at the  Mongolian Customs Administration, imports of face masks and other sanitizing products has increased; the former sharply rose to 1.5 million in February from 68,700 in January mostly from China, Turkey and South Korea.

Illegal imports are still continuing. For example, Mongolian custom officials uncovered 15 attempts of drug trafficking to the country in 2018 and seized 4.5 kg drugs from 11 individuals in 2019.