China says its COVID-19 peak is over
Editor:
Zhang Jianfeng
丨Xinhua
03-13-2020 09:37 BJT
BEIJING, March 12 -- China on Thursday said the peak of the current outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country is over, hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the epidemic a pandemic.
And a renowned Chinese respiratory specialist said it could be brought under control by June, if most countries act like China.
In China, new cases have kept declining and the overall epidemic situation remains at a low level, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission, at a press conference in Beijing.
Mi said the number of new confirmed cases in Wuhan, the epicenter in central China's Hubei Province, has dropped to a single digit, with only eight cases reported on Wednesday. Only seven new cases were reported on the Chinese mainland outside Hubei, but six were imported from overseas.
Wuhan confirmed the appearance of a new virus in December, which was later named COVID-19. This highly contagious virus quickly spread, with daily cases peaking at over 15,000 on Feb. 12.
China has mobilized the whole country's resources to contain it. Cities were locked down, experts and supplies sent to the epicenter, and hundreds of millions of people across the country stayed at home for weeks to enforce social distancing.
By this week, normality has been steadily returning to China with many provinces and regions lowering their emergency responses, many businesses resuming operation and 87 percent of the country's entry and exit authorities having resumed service by Thursday.
"China's bold approach to contain the rapid spread of this new respiratory pathogen has changed the course of a rapidly escalating and deadly epidemic," a China-WHO joint mission on COVID-19 said.
WHO officials have on many occasions commended China's response, and encouraged other countries to learn from its experience.
By Wednesday, China had seen more than 62,000 patients discharged from hospital after recovery. In Wuhan, 13,462 patients were still being treated, with 4,003 in severe condition.
The top priority now, Mi said, should be given to treating patients and vowed no relaxation or loose efforts in the epidemic prevention and control work.
But China's good news is complicated by rapidly developing situations around the world. The WHO Wednesday said the COVID-19 outbreak can be characterized as a "pandemic."
There are now more than 118,000 confirmed cases in 114 countries and regions. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the number is expected to climb even higher in the days and weeks ahead.
The WHO's characterization of the COVID-19 outbreak as a "pandemic" was to call on its members once again to make further political commitment and put in more resources to turn things around in the battle against the disease, Mi said.
Mi said China is paying close attention to the current rapid global spread of the epidemic, and will continue to strengthen cooperation with the WHO and relevant countries to contribute to the global viral fight.
Chinese respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan said China's experience and lessons over the past two months can help the world reduce the spread and deadliness of the outbreak.
If most countries act like China, he said, the global COVID-19 pandemic could be brought under control by June.
With virus basically curbed, China pushes ahead battle against economic fallout
Editor:
Zhang Jianfeng
丨Xinhua
03-13-2020 09:37 BJT
As the rest of the global economy is increasingly gripped by fears of the outbreak, China's getting back to economic normality offers much-needed comfort.
Noting that the country has been trying to manage a balancing act between containing the epidemic and reviving the economy, analysts and business insiders of many countries have expressed their cautious optimism that the Chinese economy will be left unscathed in the long run.
BEIJING, March 12 -- After securing an upper hand in its all-out confrontation with the novel coronavirus on home turf, China is warily repositioning itself to fight the economic fallouts of the outbreak already declared as a pandemic.
In stark contrast to the rapid spread elsewhere in the world, the virus spread has been basically contained in China, with new risks largely coming from imported cases. The National Health Commission said it received reports of 15 new confirmed cases on the mainland on Wednesday, among which six were imported cases.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, China has prioritized the health of people from home and abroad and taken stringent measures to contain the spread of the virus at the expense of short-term economic gains.
Flexibility and agility are what China has learned from its tough fight with the ferocious virus. Shortly before the World Health Organization declared the outbreak as a pandemic, China's State Council unveiled new measures to support foreign trade and investment in case the increasingly severe situations overseas might further weigh down global industrial chains.
The measures in the pipeline include a shorter negative list of foreign investment and more foreign trade loans from financial institutions.
DECISIVE COMMAND
During his Tuesday inspection of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated that the epidemic will not undermine the fundamentals of China's steady and long-term sound economic development despite short-term economic repercussions.
In a speech at a teleconference on Feb. 23, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed the importance of coordinating the prevention and control of the epidemic and economic and social development.
While ensuring sufficient epidemic prevention and control, resumption of work and production in certain regions has a bearing on solid material supply to contain the epidemic, completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects, China's opening up and global economic stability, among others, said Xi.
Xi demanded detailed steps to keep the economy stable, including category-based and region-specific work and production resumption, enhanced macro policy adjustment, doubled-down efforts on poverty alleviation and boosting employment, stepping up agriculture production, ensuring people's livelihood, as well as stabilizing foreign trade and investment.
POLICY TOOLKIT
As the world's second-largest economy, China has much leeway in sustaining steady economic growth. The ample maneuver room comes from the government's rich policy toolkit.
Xi has demanded the right pace and capacity of macro policies to cushion the epidemic's impact and prevent economic growth from slipping out of an appropriate range.
The epidemic has become one of the busiest occasions for China's government agencies, which are in full swing to keep an eye on the economy's well-being amid the epidemic fight and develop support steps.
Liquidity is boosted via open market operations and targeted credit ease. Tax, fee and social security payment cuts are offered to impacted firms. Daily necessity supplies are ensured through national reserve allocation. Logistics is facilitated via fast-track channels and free tolls. Food production is guaranteed by supporting spring farming.
Governments at all levels are responding swiftly to calls for help. Some local authorities arranged chartered buses, trains and flights to bring employees back to work to ease labor shortages.
After reports of some 300 million chickens starving over impeded feed supply in epidemic-stricken Hubei, the government prompted state-owned grain suppliers to send feed and later ordered local governments to refrain from blocking ways key to transport of livestock feed and products.
MARKET FORCES
Besides government aid, the country's businesses have been biting the bullet with grit and wit to survive and thrive. Companies and factories see the hard times as a chance to discover opportunities in the midst of a crisis.
Industrial giants are taking the lead in business adjustments, such as the rollout of non-contact delivery services and promotion of virtual reality salesrooms and online scenic spot tours. Many also lend a hand to prop up smaller players in their business ecosystem, including scraping rent and commission and offering microloans for vulnerable partners.
In one of the hardest-hit sectors, many restaurants take to food delivery to keep business going. Some even put their chefs on livestreaming platforms to pitch dishes or offer cooking tips.
The country's vibrant digital sector further adds to the economy's resilience by enabling millions of people to work, entertain and study from home via telecommuting and livestreaming.
As of the end of February, over 95 percent of companies in petrochemical, telecommunications, electricity and transport industries have resumed operation, while staff in over 80 percent of foreign-funded enterprises have returned to work.
As the rest of the global economy is increasingly gripped by fears of the outbreak, China's getting back to economic normality offers much-needed comfort.
UPHILL BATTLE
Xi said the COVID-19 epidemic will inevitably deal a relatively big blow to China's economic and social development, but its impact is temporary and generally manageable. He pointed out that at such a time it is even more important to view China's development in a comprehensive, dialectical and long-term perspective and to strengthen and firm up confidence.
China's major economic growth targets for 2020 are yet to be announced as the annual session of the national legislature was postponed due to the epidemic, but Xi has reiterated that the country has confidence and capabilities to achieve the building of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects and the eradication of poverty.
Noting that the country has been trying to manage a balancing act between containing the epidemic and reviving the economy, analysts and business insiders of many countries have expressed their cautious optimism that the Chinese economy will be left unscathed in the long run.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in February that she believes the Chinese economy "remains resilient" and will "return to normal in the second quarter" of 2020.
"We believe the coronavirus is a one-off negative shock, which should not alter the long-term growth trajectory of China's economy," UBS economists said in a research note in February. "As the virus outbreak is contained and economic activities normalize, we see pent-up demand being released and businesses recover."
However, experts said worldwide disruptions by the pandemic would pose new challenges to the Chinese economy.
The prevention focus should be shifted to the monitoring of inbound travelers to minimize the impact on business resumption, said Zhang Yansheng, chief researcher of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.