XI HAILS ROLE OF COMMUNITY WORKERS

President Xi Jinping has called on community workers to continue their steadfast efforts to combat COVID-19 as communities remain an important line of defense against imported cases and a rebound of the outbreak in China.

Xi made the remark in a letter of reply on Wednesday to community workers at a neighborhood which he visited last month during his inspection tour of Wuhan, the Chinese city hit hardest by the outbreak.

During his visit he spoke with community workers, police officers, doctors, officials and volunteers at Donghu Xincheng residential community in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province.

In his letter to the community workers, Xi said he was glad to know that life in Wuhan was gradually returning to normal.

Wuhan has lifted its 76-day lockdown, but Xi cautioned against any slackening of epidemic prevention work. He noted that routine adoption of epidemic control measures should play a key role in these new circumstances.

The city's urban and rural community workers have, together with other front-line workers, fought the virus regardless of the risks they faced, he said.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said that Party members and officials in communities took the lead in this battle.

The widespread prevention and control measures adopted by the public fully reflected China's capability to win the people's war against the pandemic, Xi added.

He urged the community workers to continue their efforts in containing the outbreak and serving the people wholeheartedly.

Tao Jiudi is one of the community workers at Donghu Xincheng residential community who wrote to Xi. In the letter they invited him to return to Wuhan when it was possible to do so.

"We hope General Secretary Xi can take a walk on our street, and taste Wuhan hot dry noodles and grain liquor after the pandemic," she said.

Tao said she believed that all community workers across the country will feel the same encouragement and excitement that she did when reading Xi's letter of reply.

Acting as the commander-in-chief in the "people's war" on the pandemic, Xi has said on various occasions that communities hold the key to curbing the spread of the virus and praised community workers for their important role in the battle.

Since the start of the outbreak, about 4 million community workers have been working at the front line in 650,000 urban and rural communities nationwide, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

They are responsible for monitoring the outbreak, controlling access to their communities, education campaigns to increase public awareness of the virus and helping disadvantaged residents.

Mao Zongfu, director of Wuhan University's Global Health Institute, told China Youth Daily that community-based pandemic control was an important factor in combating COVID-19 in Wuhan as the community level is a weak point in preventing diseases and treating patients.

A comprehensive mechanism should be established to prevent major disease outbreaks in cities and communities, Mao said.

MEASURES TO HELP NATION GET BACK ON GROWTH TRACK

China has unveiled a range of measures including an aid package to speed up the economic recovery from the coronavirus outbreak, as it seeks to tackle the crisis and challenges resulting from the global COVID-19 pandemic.

President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presided over a number of key leadership meetings in the past two months that decided on periodic and targeted tax cuts and fee reductions for businesses as part of measures to coordinate epidemic containment and socioeconomic development.

During a videoconference on Feb 23 in which officials across the nation participated, Xi called for the enforcement of a region-specific and tiered policy to enable businesses to resume operations, saying that the economy and society is a dynamic system that cannot endure a standstill for long.

In late March, Xi paid a four-day visit to Zhejiang province, a manufacturing hub and China's leading powerhouse in foreign trade, to hear opinions from businesses and give instructions on helping businesses get back to work.

During the visit, he underlined the importance of turning the crisis into opportunities and fostering new growth engines amid the pandemic and pledged to continue to refine the mix of policies aimed to help businesses in line with the development of the situation.

Xi's latest commitment to accelerate the recovery of social and economic operations was made on Wednesday at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

He noted that with the continuous spread of the pandemic globally and its huge impact on the world economy, China now faces fresh difficulties and challenges in its recovery and socioeconomic development.

The meeting decided to employ every available means to create an enabling environment for resuming business operations, including stronger support to hard-hit sectors and small and medium-sized enterprises and heightened steps to expand domestic demand.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index increased to 52 in March, up from 35.7 in February. The nonmanufacturing business activities index stood at 52.3, compared with 29.6 in February.

A PMI reading of 50 or above indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector.

Zhao Qinghe, a spokesman for the NBS, urged cautious optimism as a single month's PMI reading is not enough to show an across-the-board recovery.

However, the reading does show sustained positive momentum in China's epidemic containment and an accelerated pace in the resumption of work and production among businesses, he said.

CHINA'S CONSUMER PRICE INDEX UP 4.3% IN MARCH

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 4.3 percent year-on-year in March, down from 5.2 percent in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

On a monthly basis, the CPI dropped by 1.2 percent last month, versus a 0.8 percent rise in February, pointing to easing inflationary pressure, according to the NBS.

Dong Lijuan, a senior NBS statistician, mainly attributed the softened CPI figures to a slower rise in food prices as supply recovered.

"In March, the resumption of work and production accelerated while transportation and logistics recovered. Measures to ensure supply and stabilize price levels were stepped up," Dong said.

Food prices rose by 18.3 percent year-on-year last month, down by 3.6 percentage points from a month earlier, the NBS reported.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 1.2 percent year-on-year in March, up from 1.0 percent in the previous month, indicating recovering domestic demand.

Meanwhile, China's producer price index declined 1.5 percent year-on-year last month amid dropping prices of bulk commodities such as crude oil in the international markets, the bureau said.

WUHAN RESTARTS: CITY TO SEE 245B YUAN INVESTMENT IN 69 PROJECTS

Wuhan's rejuvenation will be speeded up with some enterprises planning to invest after the city experienced months-long lockdown.

A total of 245.1 billion yuan worth of investment involving 69 projects in Hubei province were signed at an online investment fair held in Wuhan on April 8.

The 69 projects include intelligent manufacturing, big data, bio-pharmaceutical, new energy car, fintech, logistics, culture and tourism, and 11 of them will be established in Wuhan.

Alibaba, Tencent, JD, Xiaomi Gree and MGI Tech also have announced their investment plans in the city.

Tencent said it would strengthen deep cooperation with Wuhan on digital government, intelligent education, smart travel, artificial intelligence and security to help the digital industry development in the city. And the company will quadruple the number of employees it currently has.

Alibaba's investment focuses on finance and retail, including opening two Hema Fresh stores within 20 days, and has provided a month-long interest-free loan to 360,000 corner shops, small and micro businesses, and individually owned business.

JD will invest 6 billion yuan in Hubei province within three years, including build intelligent logistics system and smart city, and support famers selling products on its e-commerce platform.

Electrical goods manufacturer Gree plans to establish a new specialized production base in Wuhan.

Xiaomi will continue to build its Wuhan headquarters to push its AI and cloud platform, and mobile IoT businesses.

Moreover, MGI Tech's global smart manufacturing and R&D center, electric car startup Nio's smart transportation and internet of vehicles project, chip maker Loongson's R&D operating center and operating center also will be established in Wuhan.

CHINA GEARED UP TO MEET SURGING GLOBAL DEMAND OF VENTILATORS

Chinese companies are geared up to meet surging global demand of ventilators to join hands with the world fighting against COVID-19 outbreak, overseas edition of the People's Daily reported on Friday.

China's ventilator production capacity accounts for one-fifth of that of the globe and the country has received more than 20,000 orders of ventilators from overseas. Some orders have been moved to the third quarter, although all staff members including R&D employees are working non-stop at production line.

The current daily production capacity of ventilators has increased to 1,200 units from 200 to 300 at the beginning of February and with tens of thousands orders the company is still receiving hundreds of inquires each day, said Jiang Dong, marketing manager of BMC Medical Co Ltd.

The company is making every effort to increase production capacity of ventilators to meet the demand from Italy, France, UK and the United States, Jiang said.

BMC Medical Co Ltd is just one of the Chinese ventilator manufacturing companies working 24 hours a day to tackle challenges of surging ventilators orders brought by the novel coronavirus pneumonia.

Statistics from the WHO indicate that one out of every six COVID-19 patients will have severe illness and dyspnea, and non-invasive ventilator-assisted ventilation will be used. If the condition worsens, invasive ventilator-controlled ventilation will be needed.

It is estimated that in the US only 200,000 ventilators are available with a considerable part being worn out and cannot be used immediately.

The situation in Europe is also not optimistic as the ventilator gap in EU is projected to be 25,000. The shortage of ventilators may be even worse in some developing countries. The global demand for ventilators is ten times that of available in current medical institutions.

The global situation has becoming serious since the middle of March this year and many countries in badly need of ventilators eye on China, who brings hope to global villagers and committed to breath together with all the countries and build a shared future.

About 1,000 ventilators donated by Chinese private organizations to New York State arrived last week, about 300 ventilators were shipped from China to the UK, and Spain purchased more than 900 ventilators from China. Since March 1, China has exported 16,000 ventilators, said Jin Hai, director-general of the GAC's department of general operation, at a press conference on April 5.

SHENZHEN LETS WUHAN WORKERS RETURN TO JOBS

Shenzhen, Guangdong province, announced that people coming back to work from Wuhan, Hubei province, are exempt from mandatory quarantine if they can prove they have not been infected with the novel coronavirus.

Those returning must receive nucleic acid tests in Wuhan−the city hardest hit during the outbreak that ended its 76-day lockdown on Wednesday−and show their green health codes upon arrival. With green health codes issued by Hubei, they can go directly to work in Shenzhen.

However, seven days after their arrival, they must be tested for the virus a second time, according to the city's health commission.

"Communities have to remind people from Wuhan that they are advised not to go outside for 14 days, except to go to work," said Zheng Xuefeng, deputy chief of emergency management of Shenzhen.

On March 19, Shenzhen had launched a green channel for people coming from Hubei, except Wuhan. This channel helps some people avoid 14-day quarantine measures.

Now that Wuhan has ended its lockdown, people from there can also take advantage of the channel, but only for employment purposes.

For epidemic intervention, Hubei has issued three levels of health codes−red, yellow and green−based on their test results and medical observations.

Red means the person has or is likely to have the coronavirus; yellow means the person has had contact with those who are infected and are still under medical observation; and green means the person has no symptoms and has been isolated at home for more than a month in the province.

Since mid-March, the city has screened 560,000 people from Hubei with green codes, among whom eight asymptomatic infection cases have been found.

More than 200,000 people in Hubei are expected to come to Shenzhen in the near future.

Liu Xiangbing, a repairman in Shenzhen and a green code bearer, has benefited from the policy. In the wee hours of March 18, he drove to Shenzhen from Xiantao, Hubei.

"Without the green code, I would have had to be quarantined for two weeks," Liu said. After nearly two days of isolation, he was released from quarantine on March 19. He used his code to be discharged from quarantine in advance.

The next day, Liu got to his company's workshop early, picked up his maintenance tools that had not been touched for more than two months, and buried himself in work.

"I'm so excited that I can finally come back to work so soon," he said.

The green code served as a green light for him to return to work in Shenzhen, Liu said.

"To apply for a resume work certificate, I showed my green code to my Shenzhen company. With the certificate from the company and a green code, I got a letter enabling me to leave Hubei. To get a seal for the letter from the local epidemic control office, I showed my code a third time."

After Liu left Hubei by car, local traffic police at high-speed road checkpoints inspected his green code. Once he entered the Shenzhen industrial park where the company is located, the staff checked his code again. After reaching the company building, the personnel department inspected it once more.

For people from Hubei, they have to report personal information on the "iShenzhen" app and independently monitor their own temperature. Meanwhile, communities and employers are also required to monitor their health conditions.

"Those from Hubei holding red codes or yellow codes, or who do not have a code, need to get nucleic acid tests and be placed under a 14-day concentrated quarantine under medical observation," Zheng said.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

“Winners talk about the solutions. Losers talk about the problems.” - Jeffrey Fry