EXPERTS URGE US TO PUT END TO BLAME GAME

The divide between Beijing and Washington amid the COVID-19 pandemic could be a hot topic at the upcoming two sessions−China's biggest annual political event−when lawmakers and political advisers discuss how the country responds to external environment, experts said.

The United States should stop the blame game and work along with the international community, including China, to jointly combat the novel coronavirus outbreak in a bid to save more lives in the US and protect the safety and health of all mankind, they said.

Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute of Global Affairs, told China Daily that by repeatedly blaming China for COVID-19, the US administration is trying to avoid accepting responsibility for its own gross mismanagement of this tragic pandemic.

"As such, it distorts the Chinese role in this global pandemic while ducking the moral equivalence of three months of denial and misrepresentation of fact and scientific analysis by America's own leadership," Roach said. "This is a political ploy, aimed at the upcoming presidential election in November."

Deputies to the National People's Congress, the nation's top legislature, and the members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, will gather in Beijing later this week. It is likely China will use the event to unveil key policies for its socioeconomic development amid the pandemic.

As the pandemic still rages globally, the changing external environment has posed challenges for China to secure the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects and shaking off absolute poverty before the end of this year.

On the top of various complicated factors is the China-US relationship, which became tense due to the months-old trade disputes and has been exacerbated following the outbreak of the epidemic.

Experts attributed the deterioration of ties between the world's two largest economies to the "political virus" in the US administration coupled with the mounting number of confirmed infections and deaths due to the disease. The US has reported more than 1.45 million COVID-19 cases and over 88,000 fatalities.

US politicians and officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have recently ramped up their anti-China rhetoric, spared no effort to connect the virus with China and want to hold China accountable for the contagion.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee recently issued a 57-page document as part of an aggressive campaign attacking China for the US' coronavirus crisis.

In an article published by the Washington Post on May 6, Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai said that behind the mindset of "always blame China "is a kind of dirty politics, championed by a few people who shift the spotlight for political gain.

"Blaming China will not end this pandemic. On the contrary, the mindset risks decoupling China and the United States and hurting our efforts to fight the disease, our coordination to reignite the global economy, our ability to conquer other challenges and our prospects of a better future," Cui said.

Noting that the US would not emerge as a winner from this scenario, the ambassador said: "It is time to end the blame game. It is time to focus on the disease and rebuild trust between our two countries".

He said the COVID-19 pandemic needs to be addressed as a global problem requiring collaborative solutions between nations. "As the two largest economies in the world, the US and China have the moral obligation to work together−not just for their own citizens but for all of humankind."

MINISTRY CONDEMNS LATEST CURB ON HUAWEI

The Ministry of Commerce urged the United States government on Sunday to immediately stop abusing export control measures and pledged to take all necessary measures to protect the legitimate and lawful interests of Chinese businesses.

The comments came after the US Department of Commerce issued new rules, due to take effect in September, that will block Chinese tech giant Huawei and its suppliers from using US technologies to design and manufacture semiconductors.

"It is a violation of market principles and fair competition. The US government, in the name of national security, used national power and abused export control measures to crack down on specific companies in other countries," the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website.

The ministry said that the US government is ignoring the basic rules of international economics and trade and that it also poses a serious threat to the safety of global industrial and supply chain.

Experts said some US officials are using political forces to disrupt normal global supply cooperation, which will severely harm the global supply and value chain, especially as the world economy was hit hard by the coronavirus.

Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the new move marked a significant escalation of the US government's battle with China for global technology dominance, especially in the information and communication technology sector where Huawei has gained a competitive advantage.

Boston Consulting Group said in a report that if the US government increases restrictions on semiconductor trade with China, this could endanger its own position as a leader in the sector.

BCG warned that if shipments of US chips and chipmaking equipment to China were stopped, and China were to ban imports of US electronics and software, it could cost US companies 37 percent of their annual sales.

BCG found that the top US semiconductor makers have reported a median revenue decline of between 4 percent and 9 percent in each of the three quarters following the ban on Huawei buying US chip technologies in May 2019.

"As the coronavirus outbreak is severely disrupting global supply and industrial chains, such actions will further destroy and hit the current system," said Wang Peng, deputy head of the China Center for Information Industry Development, adding that the latest move damages the interests of Chinese and US enterprises.

'MORE FLEXIBLE, POWERFUL' MONETARY POLICY NEEDED

Policymakers are hinting at taking additional monetary action, coordinated with fiscal measures, to support China's resuming economic activity as the novel coronavirus outbreak is basically controlled domestically, and they expect the recovery will rely largely on domestic demand.

The monetary response should focus on maintaining lower interest rates and ensuring sufficient liquidity to help achieve debt sustainability, and fiscal authorities need to enlarge public spending and cut taxes with an extended deficit, said policy advisers.

Yi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, pledged over the weekend it would implement "a more flexible and powerful" monetary policy to counter economic downturn pressure and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 shocks, while maintaining financial stability.

Speaking before the opening of the third plenary session of the 13th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, Yi signaled policymakers may take further monetary actions to ensure employment and support the real economy.

Monetary policy tools include re-lending and re-discounting facilities, through which the central bank can provide funds to commercial banks.

Yi also stressed extending the repayment periods of loans and improving the efficiency of the monetary policy transmission procedures, according to an article on the PBOC website on Saturday.

The government will raise the fiscal deficit ratio, issue special treasury bonds to counter the COVID-19 pandemic's impact, increase local government special bonds and continually implement tax and fee cuts, Finance Minister Liu Kun said on Thursday.

The number of new infections in China has stabilized at very low levels, and China's economy continued to recover in April after sharply contracting in the first quarter. Industrial output has risen year-on-year and investment has strongly improved. But consumption momentum has remained weak.

The spread of COVID-19 overseas has disrupted the global economy and financial market, bringing new challenges to China's economy, Yi said. "China has favorable conditions to maintain economic and financial stability, and we still have sufficient policy space to support growth."

"The PBOC has signaled further easing is in the cards and has de-emphasized the need to contain macro leverage at a time when policy support is much needed," said Tommy Wu, lead economist at Oxford Economics, a British think tank.

MASKS OUTDOORS NO LONGER REQUIRED, AUTHORITIES SAY

The health authorities said people are not required to wear masks when in safe social distance.

Feng Luzhao, researcher with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference on Sunday that it's not necessary to wear masks at outdoor parks and streets as well as playgrounds that are not crowded.

"We suggest that people don't wear masks when doing exercises especially carrying out intense exercises," he said. "People are not required to wear masks at some areas that have low risks of infection or those spaces that have good ventilation and are maintaining social distancing including offices, meeting rooms, construction sites and schools."

Feng, however, added that when people enter enclosed environment or public spaces that have crowds of people such as public transportation vehicles and elevators, they need to wear masks.

"Also, if you feel sick and have symptoms like cough or fever, wearing mask is a must to avoid passing your disease to other people," he said.

People are required to wear masks when in the hospitals or accompanying family members to see the doctors, lowering risks of getting infected.

TAKING WING AMID TURBULENCE

China's domestic air travel market is gradually picking up after being ravaged for months by the vagaries of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the novel coronavirus gradually coming under control in China, pandemic-time travel restrictions are being lifted in a phased manner in most parts of the country.

In response, Chinese carriers are taking measures to stay viable and overcome problems posed by the crisis, civil aviation industry insiders said.

On May 5, when the week-long Labor Day holiday ended, there were 8,361 domestic flights, accounting for 70 percent of the volume recorded on May 4 last year, according to aviation data provider VariFlight.

After the break, China is expected to see more leisure and business travel and higher demand for flights, it predicted.

The air travel market started its summer and fall flying season in China on May 3. The 11 airlines under HNA Group will launch 134 new flights, including 19 flights that connect tourist hot spot Hainan province with other regions.

The group also launched four flights that connect Hubei province, the area hit hardest by the epidemic, and other cities, to help with its work and production reboot.

Meanwhile, the global spread of the contagion has led to a rising demand for air cargo, and a number of Chinese carriers have arranged chartered flights to transport medical supplies and other goods overseas.

Despite bearing significant financial pressures, Hainan Airlines has carried out more than 100 cargo flights to transport over 2,000 metric tons of goods to Ireland, Austria, Australia and 20 other countries.

Earlier, major Chinese airlines had issued epidemic prevention and control bonds to raise funds and save themselves financially. So far this year, Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines and its affiliates have issued short-term bonds at least 10 times, and raised 21.5 billion yuan ($3 billion) in all.

Industry experts said the negative impact of COVID-19 has been far worse than that of SARS in 2003 and the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. Governments, carriers, and other stakeholders will have to work together to face the challenge, they said.

In April, the number of flights worldwide dropped 80 percent year-on-year. This year, passenger revenues of airlines are expected to drop by a staggering 55 percent, or $314 billion, according to a forecast by the International Air Transport Association.

From the third quarter of this year, domestic markets globally could see the start of an upturn in demand as the first stage of lifting of travel restrictions kicks in. International markets, however, will be slower to resume as governments will likely retain travel restrictions longer, the IATA said.

"The industry's outlook is getting darker by the day. The scale of the crisis makes a sharp V-shaped recovery unlikely. Realistically, it will be a U-shaped recovery. Several governments have stepped up with new or expanded financial relief measures, but the situation remains critical. Without urgent relief, many airlines will not survive to lead the economic recovery," said Alexandre de Juniac, director-general and CEO of the IATA.

Globally, more than 65 million people work for the aviation and tourism industry. If the strict travel restrictions last for three months or longer, 25 million related jobs would be under threat, the IATA said.

CHINA ATTRACTIVE MARKET FOR FDI, MINISTER SAYS

The advantages of China in FDI utilization are very obvious, China's Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said at a news conference on Monday.

"We have rich and quality labor sources, sound and complete industrial supporting capabilities, and we also have a market of 1.4 billion people. I believe smart business people will not give up the huge Chinese market."

SHANGHAI BEGINS THE GRADUAL CLIMB BACK

Boisterous weekend crowds at The Union Trading Co appear to indicate that business at this award-winning Shanghai cocktail establishment is back to normal as the COVID-19 outbreak comes under control in the city.

However, the truth lies somewhere in between.

The bar owner, Yao Lu, said: "Since the lockdown ended a month ago, business is slowly coming back. But while revenue on weekends is nearing the level seen before the pandemic, our weekday takings are still only 60 percent of normal."

Restaurants and bars have been among the businesses worst-hit by the pandemic, with many well-known outlets in Shanghai forced to shutter their operations.

Those that have closed for good during the pandemic include: Hakkasan, an internationally acclaimed modern Chinese restaurant chain; craft beer bar Stone Brewing; and Barules, a popular cocktail bar just across the road from The Union Trading Co.

According to a survey by Shanghai food critic Rachel Gouk, the situation has been bleak for restaurants and bars.

The study, which polled 488 restaurateurs and diners on April 11-12, found that revenue had returned to normal levels at only 4 percent of businesses following the easing of pandemic prevention measures the previous month. The majority of respondents−63 percent−were earning 30 to 60 percent of their normal revenue.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Cui peccare licet peccat minus – (One who is allowed to sin, sins less.) - Publius Ovidius Naso