BEIJING CLOSES PRODUCE MARKET OVER NEW VIRUS CASES

Beijing reported four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 from 4 pm to 12 pm on Friday - totaling seven confirmed cases on Thursday and Friday, with all having close connection with the just closed Xinfadi agricultural products wholesale market in the city's Fengtai district.

Except for one confirmed patient who went on a business trip to Qingdao, Shandong province, the other six patients had no history of being out of the capital or contacting people from Hubei or abroad.

These confirmed patients that all have been to Xinfadi or worked at the market in past days.

Beijing will begin testing for COVID-19 all people who came in contact with the Xinfadi market, and details of the plan will be released later today, officials said on Saturday.

Beijing currently has 98 testing institutions in total, with a maximum screening capability of over 90,000 people per day, according to Gao Xiaojun, the spokesman of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission. "This will be enough to meet the needs," he said.

The coronavirus was detected on a chopping board used by a seller of imported salmon at Xinfadi market. The seller's salmon was from the Fengtai district's Jingshen seafood market.

The Xinfadi market, which provides 90 percent of Beijing's vegetables and fruits, will be the top priority in tracing the source of the epidemic, and a working group will be dispatched to strengthen epidemic prevention and control.

Over 10,000 workers in Beijing's Xinfadi market will undergo the nucleic acid tests.

11 residential communities adjacent to Xinfadi market would be subject to closed-off management, and 9 kindergartens and primary schools nearby closed.

Starting from 3 am Saturday, Beijing closed one of the city's largest farm produce markets, Xinfadi, in response to the emergence of six new local cases of COVID-19 within two days.

The wholesale market selling fruits, vegetables and meat will be disinfected, after personnel working there and the surrounding areas tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

All personnel in the market will undergo nucleic acid testings, according to a statement jointly issued by the market regulation bureau and the health commission of the district.

To ensure the market supply, special sections have been set up for sales of vegetables and fruits, said the statement.

Covering a total area of 112 hectares, the Xinfadi market has some 1,500 management personnel and more than 4,000 tenants.

XI SENDS CONDOLENCES IN BURUNDI LEADER'S DEATH

President Xi Jinping sent a condolence message on Friday to Burundi president-elect Evariste Ndayishimiye on the death of Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people and in his name, Xi expressed deep condolences and sincere sympathy to Nkurunziza's family and his country's people.

Calling Nkurunziza an excellent statesman, Xi said that he had led the people of Burundi to safeguard national sovereignty and fight foreign interference.

Nkurunziza has made great efforts to promote national peace, stability and development, and he was loved by the people of Burundi, Xi said in the message.

Xi said that Nkurunziza was dedicated to promoting the traditional friendship with China and boosting mutual political trust. The Burundian leader made important contributions to deepening the China-Burundi all-weather partnership, Xi said.

He called Nkurunziza's death a heavy loss not only for the people of Burundi but also for China-Burundi friendship.

China cherishes the all-weather friendship with Burundi and would like to make joint efforts with the country to deepen the friendship and benefit the people of both countries, Xi added.

Nkurunziza, 55, died from cardiac disease on Monday, according to a Twitter statement on the official account of the Burundi government.

"The government of the Republic of Burundi present their most sincere condolences to the Burundian people in general and to his afflicted family. Burundi has just lost a dignified son of the country, the President of the Republic, a Supreme Guide of National Patriotism," the statement said.

CHINA RAILS AGAINST UK REPORT ON HONG KONG

China on Friday slammed the United Kingdom government's latest report on Hong Kong, urging it to cease any form of interference in Hong Kong affairs.

"The more that external forces intervene in Hong Kong affairs, the more determined China is to proceed with the national security legislation for Hong Kong," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news conference in Beijing.

Hua stressed that Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs that no foreign organization or individual has the right to interfere, adding that the UK side has no sovereignty, governance, supervision or so-called responsibility over the city.

"The UK should face the reality and respect China's sovereignty, security and unity and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any way," Hua said.

The spokeswoman reiterated that the Chinese government is determined to implement the "one country, two systems" principle, safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintain lasting prosperity and stability in Hong Kong.

Hua added that Twitter should shut down accounts that smear China if it wants to fight disinformation as it claimed after the company removed more than 170,000 accounts that spread messages including praise over China's efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saying that she was not clear what Twitter's decision was based on, Hua said the decision was obviously groundless if the company equates positive comments on China's response to the novel coronavirus outbreak as false information.

She stressed that China has made genuine efforts and achieved tangible results in its efforts against COVID-19.

"I think if Twitter wants to do something to its credit, it should shut down those accounts that are organized and coordinated to attack and discredit China," Hua said.

MORE FUNDS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ON WAY

The nation's city and county-level governments will share 2 trillion yuan ($282.4 million) in funds delivered by central authorities for spending and business rescue packages thanks to a special bailout measure aimed at easing economic shocks from the novel coronavirus pandemic, senior officials and analysts said on Friday.

Half of the funds will be raised through the country's special central government bonds for COVID-19 control, and the other 1 trillion yuan will derive from deficit spending activities, Vice-Minister of Finance Xu Hongcai said on Friday, without providing any time frames for the special bond issuance.

To ensure that primary-level governments are able to access the funds, a special transfer payment mechanism will be established to ensure that deserving recipients benefit, Xu said.

China has set up a transfer payment mechanism to channel funds from the central government to provincial local governments or to shift funds between regional authorities in order to balance revenues (mostly from tax incomes) and fiscal obligations in different areas.

The new transfer payment mechanism is noteworthy because provincial-level governments only serve to pass these funds on to lower-level governments, and a supervisory system will be established to prevent embezzlement, said Li Jinghui, director of the Budget Department at the Ministry of Finance.

"The central government's transfers will continue to play an important role in bridging the general budget deficit of local governments," said Fu Yubin, an analyst at Moody's Investors Service.

In 2019, higher central transfers to local governments, thanks to larger dividend collections from State-owned enterprises, significantly contributed to local government revenue growth and offset some of the effects of tax and fee reductions, Fu said.

Slower economic growth due to COVID-19 may even contract growth in the government's general budgetary revenue in 2020, according to analysts, especially since policymakers plan to cut taxes and fees by 2.5 trillion yuan annually.

The Government Work Report for 2020 indicated an intention to establish "a special transfer payment mechanism", to ensure that 2 trillion yuan in funds go straight to prefecture and county-level governments and directly benefit businesses and people.

"These funds should be primarily used to ensure employment, meet basic living needs and protect market entities.

They also provide support amid tax and fee cuts, reduced rents and loan interest rates, and also help increase consumption and investment," the report said.

Some of the funds raised by the special treasuries will be used for infrastructure construction related to COVID-19 control, and also include supporting the development of small and micro enterprises and providing fiscal and rent subsidies, said the vice-finance minister

"Primary-level governments can reserve a part of the funds for urgent and self-determined use," Xu added.

CHINESE UNIVERSITIES RISE IN GLOBAL RANKINGS

Fifty-one universities on the Chinese mainland have been included in the global top 1,000 universities, compared with 42 in its last rankings, according to the latest QS World University Rankings.

Tsinghua University is China's highest-ranked university, rising from 16th place last year to 15th, and achieving its best ranking since the list was first published in 2004, according to the rankings released on Wednesday by London-based higher education analyst QS Quacquarelli Symonds.

Peking University slipped one place to 23rd. Fudan University rose six places to 34th and Shanghai Jiao Tong University rose 13 places to 47th. Both universities achieved their best rankings.

QS ranked 1,000 universities from 80 countries and regions. Six indicators were used in compiling the annual rankings, including academic and employer reputation, citations per faculty, student-to-faculty ratio, as well as international student and faculty ratios.

Six mainland universities made it into the Top 100 universities globally. Hong Kong has five Top 100 universities and Taiwan has one.

Twenty-six Asian universities place among the global Top 100−the highest number ever.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology was ranked the world's leading university for the ninth consecutive year, while Asia's top university was the National University of Singapore, ranked 11th place.

MIT, Stanford University and Harvard University are still the top three, while the University of Oxford continues to be the best university in the United Kingdom, slipping one place to fifth. Its compatriot competitor, the University of Cambridge, remains 7th.

The majority of universities from the US have fallen in rank this year, with 112 of US' 153 ranked universities falling and only 34 recording improvements. This is primarily due to their collective relative decline in QS's measures of academic standing and research impact.

According to a separate ranking issued on June 3, universities from the Chinese mainland have for the first time secured the top two spots among Asian universities.

Tsinghua University, the first Chinese university to achieve top place in last year's rankings, maintains its top position this year, while Peking University rose from 5th to 2nd, according to the latest Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings.

This year's rankings also saw Chinese mainland universities claiming three of the Top 10 positions for the first time, with the University of Science and Technology of China and South Korea's Sungkyunkwan University tied for 10th.

HK SCHOOLS SHOULD TEACH NATIONAL PRIDE

The central government said on Friday that the education system in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region should be brought back on track to fit the "one country, two systems" principle.

The call was made by central government agencies overseeing Hong Kong affairs as they reprimanded activist groups organizing an online ballot that incites secondary students to boycott classes over a proposed national security law for the city.

In several Hong Kong schools, education has deviated from the "one country, two systems" principle, while students are being manipulated to impede the passage of the security law, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said in a strongly worded statement.

It's the duty of education authorities, as well as members of Hong Kong society, to shield the city's campuses from advocacy of separatism and violence, as these may cost youngsters their future, the spokesperson said.

Hong Kong has seen a year of anti-government protests, triggered by a now-withdrawn extradition bill, with unrest only stalled during the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly 9,000 people were arrested for protest-related offenses, with about 40 percent being students, police said.

In a separate statement on Friday, a spokesperson for the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region expressed its firm support for the SAR government to educate the city's youth about national security and national identity, in a better-structured system that is in line with the "one country, two systems" principle.

In the statement, the spokesperson cited a few controversial education issues, including potentially biased textbooks, exam questions and curricula that contain anti-China elements and lack a full picture of history.

The spokesperson said the chaos has revealed that many youngsters lack a sense of national identity, while it is a task remaining for all education workers in the city to cultivate a young generation that can contribute to Hong Kong and the country.

In recent years, there have been political groups, or even some teachers, bringing politics into Hong Kong schools, disrupting teaching activities and undermining student development, said the spokesperson.

TWO NEW COVID-19 CASES CONFIRMED IN BEIJING

Beijing confirmed two new COVID-19 cases on Friday in the city's Fengtai district, both cases being employees from the same workplace, a senior district official said on Friday.

The two newly added novel coronavirus patients, both Beijing residents and employees at the China Meat Food Integrated Research Center, tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday and were sent to designated hospitals for quarantine and further medical treatment, said Zhang Jie, deputy district head of Fengtai, at a news briefing held in Beijing on Friday.

One patient surnamed Liu had been to Qingdao, Shandong province on a business trip for five days over the last two weeks, but the patient allegedly did not have any close contact with overseas travelers or returnees from Hubei province.

The other patient, surnamed Yin, also didn't have any contact with inbound travelers or returnees from Hubei province over the past two weeks, according to Zhang.

Epidemiological investigations are underway in Fengtai district, Zhang said, adding sampling and screening had been conducted at places where the patients had been previously.

Enclosed management will also be implemented and strengthened at the neighborhood communities and workplaces of the patients, Zhang added.

The capital had confirmed three new novel coronavirus cases on Thursday and Friday, with the first in Xicheng after the capital had reported no new locally transmitted cases for 56 consecutive days.

One of the two close contacts of the confirmed case in Xicheng is a fourth-grade student, the capital health authority said on Friday.

So far, all students and teachers in the class of the fourth-grade student have tested negative for the virus, said Miao Jianhong, deputy director of the capital's Xicheng district, on Friday.

The patient from Xicheng on June 3 had bought seafood and meat in Xinfadi, a wholesale market for agricultural products in Fengtai district, said Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

The beef and lamb trading hall in the wholesale market had been shut down as of Friday, the Beijing News reported.

Chen Yankai, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, said at the conference the capital will carry out inspections at the city's fresh frozen meat trading markets.

In another development, the city's education authorities said Friday the city had suspended campus returns for primary school students in grades 1, 2 and 3. The resumption of offline courses for training institutions has also been suspended.

Previously, primary school students in grades 1, 2 and 3 were scheduled to head back to campus on June 15.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The emancipation of our physical nature is in attaining health, of our social being in attaining goodness, and of our self in attaining love. - Rabindranath Tagore