BEIJING — China said Tuesday it will be resuming passenger trains to North Korea after service was halted during COVID.

Trains will run between Beijing and Pyongyang, four times a week starting Thursday. Daily train service will also resume at the border town of Dandong in China to Pyongyang, China’s railways authority announced.

The resumption of the service will “further promote people-to-people exchanges, economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges between China and North Korea,” the announcement said.

Tourism from China into North Korea has stalled since the pandemic. North Korea banned all foreign tourists during COVID but has slowly eased these restrictions, opening the country up to tourism again for the first time in 2024.

However, they have only allowed Russian tourists entry, even though Chinese tour groups made up 90% of all visitors prior to the ban, a move that surprised observers as China is the country’s biggest trading partner and major ally.

Tickets for the trains currently will only be available offline in China, the announcement added.