XI VOWS AID FOR SMALLER BUSINESSES

President Xi Jinping pledged on Sunday to take measures to protect small and medium-sized companies from being seriously impacted by the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remark while inspecting an industrial park producing auto parts and molds in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

Xi said all kinds of enterprises could be affected by the epidemic outbreak, and the State has taken small and medium-size companies into special consideration as it appraised the situation.

The central government has produced a set of policies, and the policies will be adjusted in a timely manner in accordance with changes in the situation to protect small and medium-size companies from being seriously impacted, Xi said.

Xi encouraged companies to return to normal operating condition as soon as possible and even make new progress. Disease prevention and control work should not be relaxed, while the resumption of work and production should be accelerated at the same time, Xi said.

He told workers they should work to resume production and also protect their health.

Xi also visited the Chuanshan port area of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port on Sunday, one of the world's top container ports, which handled about 1.12 billion metric tons of cargo in 2019.

Zhejiang is one of the provinces heavily engaged in international trade, and its businesses are quickly resuming operations.

Jiang Jindong, vice-president of Zhejiang Panshi Information Technology Co, an internet company based in Hangzhou, said on Monday that over 90 percent of its workforce in China has returned to work, and the company is sparing no effort in enhancing anti-epidemic endeavors involving its 1,500 workers abroad.

"Our overseas branches in countries such as India and Vietnam were also hit by the pandemic, and the pandemic has made it difficult to undertake overseas marketing campaigns due to border controls," said Jiang, who is also vice-chairman of the Zhejiang Chamber of International Commerce.

"Xi's trip to Ningbo further enhances our confidence in innovating in our business operations and better facilitating global e-commerce transactions and investments. Despite these temporary difficulties, we are cautiously optimistic about a sound recovery and development in the middle and long run, especially with China gradually bringing the novel coronavirus epidemic under control," he added.

Qin Jian, who runs two chain hotels in Ningbo, said his worries about the business have been partly alleviated by the local government's supportive policies.

"The hotel industry has been one of the most heavily affected by the pandemic, but I believe eventually all the difficulties will be overcome," he said.

Qin's hotels have reopened and business is on the rise. He said he plans in the coming days to offer more discounts or other incentives to attract consumers.

Wang Lei, who owns a Hangzhou company that exports fireproof materials, said although the spread of the virus worldwide poses difficulties for his overseas business, he is still confident in global trade and looks forward to a rebound soon.

"The visit that President Xi paid to Zhejiang and what he said to local workers consolidated my confidence," said Wang.

"Smaller companies are going through a difficult time and support from government is one of the most effective remedies for our anxiety," Wang said.

GAOKAO PUSHED BACK A MONTH DUE TO OUTBREAK

The national college entrance examination, or gaokao, will be postponed for a month to July 7 to 8 due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of Education said.

Authorities in Hubei province and Beijing can come up with their own gaokao schedule based on the epidemic situation which will be published after consulting with the ministry, it said in a notice on Tuesday.

The gaokao, widely considered one of the most important exams in the country, has been held every year from June 7 to 8 since 2003.

The country resumed gaokao in the winter of 1977 after it was suspended for 10 years during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). The exam was held every year in July from 1979 to 2002.

In 2001, the ministry decided to move the gaokao dates forward a month from 2003 due to hot weather and frequent natural disasters in summer.

A total of 10.31 million students participated in the gaokao last year, up 560,000 from 2018.

Chinese people often compare the highly competitive exam to crossing a narrow bridge, because for many students, especially those from rural areas, enrollment at a university is an opportunity to change their future.

LIQUIDITY BOOST AND RATE CUTS TO STIR GROWTH

China is considering more measures like liquidity injections and interest rate cuts to ease credit shortages and stimulate economic growth, analysts said on Monday.

The comments came after the People's Bank of China, the central bank, cut the interest rate on the seven-day reverse repurchase agreements to 2.2 percent from 2.4 percent, the biggest drop in five years, an indication that policymakers are considering more stimulus measures to offset any further economic slowdown due to the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The PBOC has lowered the short-term lending benchmark rate via its open-market operations for the first time since Feb 17 this year. Through the reverse repurchase agreements, the PBOC injected 50 billion yuan ($7.1 billion) of liquidity into the banking system, the central bank said in a statement.

The rate reduction followed a major policy meeting last week, which called for more aggressive countercyclical adjustments, including monetary and fiscal steps, to deal with the COVID-19 fallout.

Ma Jun, a member of the PBOC monetary policy committee, said the rate cut is an indication that the country's monetary policy has stepped into a stage of using stronger countercyclical measures. "The decision was made after evaluating the needs of domestic production resumption and the deteriorating external economic environment," he said.

Experts said the reverse repurchase rate cut will lead to a lower medium-term lending facility rate, and drive down the real lending rate for businesses, which is gauged by the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) that is due for a reset on April 20.

China still has sufficient monetary policy space and tools and is the only country that still leverages conventional monetary policy, said Ma. "The PBOC has not yet used up all of its bullets at the same time."

"We expect the authorities to urge banks to expand lending, particularly to smaller and private companies. To achieve this, more liquidity will be injected by the PBOC via both broad-based and targeted methods, such as reductions in the reserve requirement ratio and shoring up liquidity via targeted MLFs," said Bloomberg economist David Qu.

On Monday, the Chinese CSI 300 index of Shanghai-and Shenzhen-listed stocks fell nearly 1 percent, after oil prices dropped to their lowest level in nearly two decades, while the global coronavirus cases climbed above 720,000. Many of the PBOC's global peers have pledged to further ease monetary policy to maintain ample liquidity and provide financial relief to tackle the global health crisis.

The G20 leaders reached a consensus last week to use all measures, including an injection of $5 trillion into the global economy, to curb the negative impact of the virus and sustain growth.

China is also planning to raise the budgeted deficit ratio, a proportion of fiscal deficits to the GDP, and issue special sovereign debt, the first time since 2007. Local governments will also issue more special bonds compared with the amount raised last year, to increase spending mainly in infrastructure, the top-level policy meeting said.

Cutting the major rates will benefit bond issuances, enabling governments to raise cheaper funds, said analysts.

CHINESE TRIAL VACCINE MAY BE TESTED ABROAD

China's first candidate vaccine for the novel coronavirus may be put into additional trials in other countries seriously hit by the pandemic if the ongoing initial trial proves it is safe and effective, the top researcher for the vaccine said.

The first stage clinical trial for the vaccine was started in Wuhan on March 16 after authorities approved. It has been proceeding smoothly, and its results will be published in April, said Chen Wei, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Wuhan is the Chinese city that was hardest hit by COVID-19.

"If the initial results prove the vaccine is safe and produces (desired) effects, we will continue to test its effectiveness overseas through international cooperation if the global epidemic continues to spread," she said.

In this way, the vaccine may be used in other hard-hit countries as soon as possible to bolster their efforts to control the pandemic, said Chen, also a researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences.

After strenuous nationwide efforts that have lasted for more than two months−including the lockdown of Wuhan, a city with more than 11 million people−the COVID-19 outbreak has been brought under control in China, with the daily number of reported cases falling to double digits and most of them imported from abroad. The number of patients receiving treatment has also been decreasing rapidly, with more recovered patients released from hospitals every day.

Many countries have shown interest in the candidate vaccine, and Chen said she and her team members are willing to cooperate with their international counterparts in the development of vaccines for the highly infectious disease.

Before putting the vaccine in trials in other countries, domestic trials may include foreigners living in China, she said.

"A vaccine may be the most effective solution to ending the global COVID-19 epidemic," she said.

It is still unknown when the vaccine will gain approval for use, as it must be proved safe and effective first, Chen said, adding she is confident in its early availability for use.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19, many other Chinese institutes are also stepping up efforts to develop vaccines for the disease. Currently there are no effective drugs for the disease, although several candidate drugs are in clinical trials.

The first phase clinical trial for the vaccine, conducted in Wuhan, aims to evaluate the safety and tolerance for the vaccine in healthy adults between 18 and 60 years old. A total of 108 volunteers had completed inoculation as of Friday and are under medical observation.

Li Zhiji, another volunteer in the clinical trial, said he received two shots on Tuesday, and is also under observation in isolation. He expects to receive a blood test in a few days to see the effects of the vaccine, he said.

"I am really honored to contribute to epidemic control and prevention by becoming a volunteer for the vaccine," he said. "I think a vaccine really needs to be available for use as soon as possible, considering the spreading global pandemic."

CARRIERS WITH NO SYMPTOMS A CONCERN

Some Chinese medical experts are calling for more measures to contain the spread of asymptomatic COVID-19 as more such cases have been reported across the country.

The health commission of Henan province reported on Sunday that a female patient confirmed on Saturday was the close contact of an asymptomatic virus carrier, a doctor working for Jiaxian County People's Hospital. The two shared a vehicle and dined three times together on March 21 before she developed symptoms on March 24.

The Henan health commission later found that one of the doctor's colleagues had traveled to Wuhan, Hubei province, and passed a 14-day quarantine. So far, three doctors from the hospital have tested positive for coronavirus while showing no symptoms during a physical examination for medical workers.

In addition, imported asymptomatic carriers have been reported in Dezhou, Shandong province, Guiyang, Guizhou province, and Mianyang, Sichuan province. Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, reported on Thursday that a confirmed case was infected by an asymptomatic carrier on a plane.

The health commission of Gansu province issued a regulation on Sunday to strengthen the monitoring of asymptomatic carriers, ordering that people from Hubei must test negative twice for the coronavirus before resuming work.

The move came after a person from Hubei tested positive for the virus on Saturday. The case raised concerns because the patient possessed a "green code", a QR code issued in Hubei indicating that a traveler is healthy.

China's top medical experts have warned that more measures should be taken to tackle the spread of the virus related to asymptomatic cases. However, some of them said that the public has no reason to panic.

Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that China's prevention measures have proved to be effective despite the existence of asymptomatic sufferers.

"Though asymptomatic cases haven't been listed as confirmed cases, that doesn't mean that we don't pay attention to them," Zeng said. "We have confidence in the prevention of further spreading by asymptomatic carriers."

Zhong Nanshan, one of China's most renowned experts in respiratory diseases, reinforced Zeng's view during an interview with China Central Television in which he said that the disease's curve and the current mortality rate suggested that the number of undetected asymptomatic carriers is unlikely to be large in the country.

Containing asymptomatic carriers has long been included in China's disease control plans. A plan issued on Jan 28 stated that such carriers, though not classified as confirmed COVID-19 cases, would be "strictly monitored and put under a 14-day quarantine".

The quarantine would continue if the carriers failed to pass two coronavirus tests. They would be hospitalized immediately if they develop any symptoms, according to the plan.

The public should pay attention to any discomfort, including cough, fatigue and sore throat, and strengthen self-protection such as wearing masks, according to Lu Jinxing, an official at the Chinese CDC.

"Hospitals should also strengthen the monitoring of such patients and trace close contacts to find asymptomatic carriers," he said.

HEILONGJIANG MINE LEAKAGE CONTAINED

A leakage of mine tailings in Heilongjiang province has triggered an emergency response, and the country's top environmental watchdog has dispatched a team to guide the handling of the incident, according to a notice from the provincial government.

The notice said an overflow occurred at 1:40 pm Saturday at the tailings pond of a molybdenum mine belonging to Yichun Luming Mining Co. Part of the tailings entered the Yijimi River, a secondary tributary of the Songhua River.

Songhua empties into the Heilong River, or the Amur River as it is called in Russia.

A Grade 2 response, the second highest in the country's four-tier environmental emergency response system, was initiated at 9 pm Sunday, according to the notice.

The leakage of the tailings, which are waste created by the mining of ore, was brought under control on Sunday afternoon and resulted in no casualties, it said.

Photos from Xinhua News Agency show that a large area in Yijimi's watercourse has been covered by a thick, gray mud.

Considering the pollution risk, the government of Tieli city, where the mine is located, has suspended water supply from the city's top drinking water treatment plant, which takes water from the river.

The government has put into operation a water plant for emergency use to ensure that the water supply will not be interrupted, and it has started transferring water from another river, a media release from the provincial government said on Monday.

A micronutrient essential for life, silvery-white molybdenum can be toxic in large quantities.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment said Vice-Minister Zhai Qing had arrived at the site to guide the handling of the incident. In addition, relevant government bodies of Heilongjiang have sent experts to the site and set up an emergency command.

The mine went into operation in mid-2014, and when a national inspection team visited it in July 2018 it was warned of the risk that its tailings pond may collapse due to water overflow.

The inspectors demanded the mine discharge some water in the pond to ensure safety, according to an investigation report on the Tieli government's website.

The mine has been fined at least twice for violations related to its tailings pond management, according to qixin.com, a corporate information inquiry website.

It was fined 139,600 yuan ($19,700) on Aug 18, 2018, and 169,600 yuan five days later. In both cases, the mine had violated the country's regulations on tailings pond management.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated. - George Bernard Shaw