XI'S DIPLOMACY PRIORITIZES SOLIDARITY, COOPERATION

President Xi Jinping has used head-of-state diplomacy to call for the building of a community of common health for mankind amid the mounting global public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, observers said.

China's experiences on epidemic control and its aid to the contagion-affected countries are boosting the confidence of the international community as it strives to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, and it helps them cope with the challenges arising from the disease, they said.

Since the start of the outbreak, Xi, as the country's commander-in-chief of the war on the contagion, has stepped up diplomatic efforts to advocate international cooperation on epidemic control as he sees that solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons against the virus.

Through meetings, telephone conversations and correspondence with foreign leaders, Xi has underlined the importance of upholding the community with a shared future for mankind in the face of a global public health crisis.

In recent messages of sympathy sent to the leaders of France, Germany, Spain and Serbia, which were made public on Saturday, Xi said that China is ready to share information and experiences on epidemic response with their countries and provide them with assistance to the best of its ability.

In the message to French President Emmanuel Macron, Xi said that China and France, both as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, share the important responsibility of safeguarding the lives and health of humanity.

The country is willing to make concerted efforts with France to enhance international cooperation in epidemic prevention and control, support the UN and the World Health Organization playing a core role in improving global public health governance, and build a community of common health for mankind, he said.

China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Germany in areas such as disease control, treatment of patients, and vaccine research and development, in order to jointly protect the health and well-being of people in both countries and globally, Xi said in his message to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Xi said China firmly supports Spain's efforts in fighting the virus, in his message to Spanish King Felipe VI. Noting that mankind is a community with a shared future, he said only through solidarity and coordination can mankind overcome this public health security challenge.

In his message to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Xi said China would provide Serbia with assistance in protective equipment and medical instruments, and send a group of medical experts to help it better contain the COVID-19 epidemic. A team of Chinese medical experts departed for Serbia on Saturday afternoon.

Earlier, Xi also sent messages of sympathy to hard-hit countries like South Korea, Italy and Iran as well as the European Union, voicing China's support for their efforts to curb the epidemic.

GROWTH SEEN IN ONLINE SECTORS DURING OUTBREAK

China has seen a growth opportunity in the online consumption and information services sectors despite the coronavirus epidemic's impact, the country's top economic regulator said on Monday.

National online retail sales of physical goods maintained growth during the first two months, and its proportion of total retail sales of consumer goods was 5 percentage points higher than the same period last year, and the information services sector surged 3.8 percent according to Gao Gao, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, who spoke at a news conference.

Gao admitted the coronavirus outbreak has brought considerable impact to the economy, social life and employment, adding the country has also seen many digital sectors emerge as bneficiaries of the recent outbreak, such as online education.

In the next step, the NDRC will work with relevant departments and local regions to continue accelerating the transformation of government function, streamlining administration and delegating power to lower levels.

More efforts will also be needed to promote the development of Internet Plus models, support innovation and business startups and further vitalize the market, Gao added.

2022 ASIAN PARA GAMES LOGO, SLOGAN UNVEILED

The logo for the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games was officially released on Monday. Symbolizing the concept of "ever forward", it depicts an athlete in a wheelchair competing on a racetrack.

"Through the logo, we want to convey the ideal and aspiration that all athletes strive to challenge themselves in the sports arena," said Chen Zhengda, deputy dean of the Institute of Art and Design at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. Chen designed the logo.

REMOTE CLASSES HELP BRING STUDENTS TOGETHER

As millions of students remain homebound as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak and need to take classes online, some are unable to log on because their homes do not have an internet connection.

The challenge can be even harder for students in remote rural areas, where internet access is often poor and they have to find creative ways to continue studying.

Online classes have become a quick solution for teachers grappling with the results of the contagion that hit the country hard and fast. The Ministry of Education has encouraged schools to provide internet lessons to keep millions of students occupied in light of the suspension of classes.

Since Feb 17, a national cloud-learning platform has provided educational materials for students at middle and high schools, according to the ministry, which said the platform is intended to provide resources for students, but is not meant to replace full-time classroom learning.

At the same time, classes for primary school students are being broadcast on Channel 4 of China Education Television.

The division of learning platforms for students at different levels is intended to limit the amount of time primary school students spend online and protect their eyesight. It also aims to prevent the network from becoming congested by too many students going online simultaneously, the ministry said.

However, some people are questioning whether the fervent drive to push classes online will result in students being left behind.

As students have been asked to tune into lessons livestreamed via phone apps, type questions as real-time messages and submit homework through WeChat, the country's stark digital divide makes it hard for some.

While about 854 million people have access to the internet, for some disadvantaged families, data plans don't come cheap. The cost of streaming hours of online classes on a smartphone can quickly add up, and not everyone has broadband, Wi-Fi or even a TV set at home.

MORE IMPORTED COVID-19 CASES IN BEIJING

Beijing reported 10 new imported cases of the novel coronavirus pneumonia on Sunday, including the first from Pakistan, bringing the total confirmed infections from overseas to 107.

Of the cases reported, there were four from the United Kingdom, two from Spain, two from France and one each from the United States and Pakistan, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Commission.

The capital also reported 15 new suspected cases on Sunday involving inbound travelers.

To date, confirmed infections from overseas in Beijing involve 13 countries. Of the total confirmed imported cases, 34 are from the United Kingdom, 29 from Spain, 18 from Italy, seven from the United States, five from France, three each from Austria, Hungary, Iran and one each from Thailand, Brazil, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Pakistan, health commission said.

Beijing reported no locally transmitted cases from noon to midnight on Sunday. As of Sunday, a total of 415 domestic cases had been registered in the capital, with 392 of the patients recovering.

There have been no new reports of domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases in Beijing for 16 consecutive days. As of midnight on Sunday, Beijing had reported a total of 522 confirmed cases, with 400 of those patients discharged from the hospital after recovery. There have been eight deaths.

Local health authorities in the capital have traced 4,164 people who had close contact with the patients. They said 381 were still quarantined for observation.

WORK ON PROJECTS GETS BACK ON TRACK

China is gradually returning to work amid the government's efforts to battle and contain the novel coronavirus outbreak, said the country's top economic planner.

Despite the coronavirus epidemic's impact, the resumption of work rate in key projects has gradually developed in the past days, said Ou Hong, director of the Department of Fixed Asset Investment at the National Development and Reform Commission.

As of Friday, work has resumed on around 11,000 key projects outside of Hubei province at a rate of 89.1 percent, up from the 2.3 percent on Feb 6, Ou said at a news conference on Saturday. Among them, key projects in southern China had a work resumption rate of 98.1 percent, while those in northern China reported a rate of 60.3 percent.

Major highway and water transportation work has hit a resumption rate of 97 percent. Airport and major water projects respectively reported a rate of 87 percent and 86 percent, according to the NDRC.

Zheng Jian, deputy director of the Department of Basic Industries at the NDRC, said work on most transportation projects has resumed, and the country has confidence transportation projects will be completed this year.

To date, the 533 major transportation projects surveyed have resumed work at a rate of 97.8 percent. For instance, all key railway projects have resumed work, involving 7,000 working sites and a total of 500,000 workers.

In the next step, the NDRC will make a big push to ensure orderly resumption of work and promote new projects. And more efforts are needed to resolve any issue companies may face and to expand effective investments and accelerate the approval process.

Zheng highlighted the importance of infrastructure investment projects, saying the NDRC will promote the high-quality development of infrastructure construction.

Particularly, the NDRC will speed up the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks, artificial intelligence, industrial internet and internet of things. And it will focus on addressing weak links, such as the emergency supplies reserve systems and public health service system.

"It is necessary to use new infrastructure to promote and optimize the services and improve the efficiency for traditional infrastructure," Zheng added. "In the future, we will promote the construction of smart transportation, smart grid and smart cities, to build an infrastructure system that adapts the need of smart economy and smart society development."

PROSECUTORS TOLD TO TAKE STRONGER ACTION AGAINST IMPORTED INFECTIONS

Chinese prosecutors have been told to intensify efforts to deal with offenses related to imported cases of novel coronavirus after the country saw an increase in imported infections.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate, the nation's top prosecuting authority, raised the requirement on Thursday, when more imported cases were discovered on the Chinese mainland.

The newly reported cases took the cumulative imported figure to more than 300 on Saturday. Conversely, new infections on the mainland have been curbed, according to the National Health Commission.

Considering the rising risk of imported cases, Zhang Jun, prosecutor-general of the procuratorate, ordered all prosecutors not to relax in their epidemic control work, pay more attention to offenses related to imported infections and initiate prosecutions in a timely manner.

For example, people who do not truthfully report their health conditions at customs or falsify their health statement cards when entering the country may be charged with the crimes of disturbing border health and quarantine.

Those who do not abide by quarantine rules or who hinder anti-epidemic measures after entering the country may face criminal charges such as disturbing the prevention of infectious diseases and endangering public security by dangerous methods.

"We'll play a stronger supervisory role in curbing the spread of the virus at borders, taking people's health as a top priority and offering strong legal guarantees to public health security," the procuratorate's novel coronavirus prevention and control team said in a statement.

It said cooperation with other government departments was needed to form a joint force against the disease.

For instance, the procuratorate has established an information sharing system with health and quarantine departments at customs to help better understand imported infections, it said.

The procuratorate will publicize how some cases related to crimes hindering the prevention of imported coronavirus cases have been handled to enhance the public's legal awareness, it added.

Earlier this month, the procuratorate urged prosecutors to strengthen the supervision of public interest litigation against the illegal consumption of wildlife to protect wild animals and the ecology after the disclosure of several cases related to hunting and the illegal wildlife trade. The novel coronavirus is believed to spread to humans through the consumption of some wild animals.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

It better befits a man to laugh at life than to lament over it. – Seneca