UPLIFTING TOUR

President Xi Jinping visits the Chuanshan area of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang Province， east China， on March 29.

Xi， also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission， inspected the resumption of work and production in Zhejiang.

The Ningbo-Zhoushan Port， one of the worlds top container ports， handled about 1.12 billion tons of cargo in 2019. Zhejiang is one of Chinas major foreign trade hubs. Businesses in the province are fast resuming operation.

Back on Track

Workers at the site of a subway line in Wuhan， Hubei Province in central China， on March 30. The line resumed construction that day.

Marine Environment

China has launched an eight-month-long special law enforcement campaign to enhance marine environmental protection， according to the China Coast Guard （CCG）.

The campaign， coded Blue Sea 2020， is running from April 1 to November 30， said a statement jointly issued by the CCG， Ministry of Natural Resources， Ministry of Ecology and Environment and Ministry of Transport.

The campaign targets violations of laws and regulations in eight fields including marine and coastal construction projects， offshore oil exploration and exploitation， marine dumping and sea sand mining and transportation.

Any illegal activity that causes pollution and damage to the marine ecological environment will be cracked down on.

Medical Insurance

The basic medical insurance fund reported an accumulated balance of nearly 2.7 trillion yuan （$382 billion） by the end of 2019， the National Health care Security Administration said.

More than 1.35 billion people， or over 95 percent of the population， were covered by the basic medical insurance system as of the end of 2019， according to a report issued by the administration on March 30.

The number of urban employees covered reached 329.3 million， an increase of 3.9 percent year on year.

It also covered about 1 billion rural and non-working urban residents， down 0.3 percent from the previous year.

Agriculture Trade

Gansu Province in northwest China has exported 31，800 tons of apples to 22 countries and regions this year， according to the customs authorities in Lanzhou， capital of the province. The export is valued at $40.95 million.

The customs said Gansu has seen stable export of agricultural products to other Belt and Road participants since February.

On March 10， the province exported 20.6 tons of apples worth$32，000 to Kuwait. On March 3， the city of Jiuquan exported 23 tons of cherry tomatoes to Kazakhstan.

Despite the disruptions by COVID-19， Gansu， a major apple and cherry tomato grower， has maintained a stable agricultural product output.

“Other Belt and Road participating countries are huge markets and trade partners of Gansu， and they have a great demand for agricultural products from northwest China，” Li Quan， head of Lanzhou Customs， said.

Li added that clearance procedures for agricultural products have been simplifi ed， shoring up foreign trade. The deepening of the Belt and Road Initiative， trade facilitation efforts and innovative measures have also contributed to foreign trade growth in Gansu.

Taiwan Students

The Chinese mainland has issued a circular detailing the requirements for Taiwan students and athletes to apply for admission in mainland colleges and universities without sitting the entrance exams.

Taiwan students who won a prize at the International Olympiad in math， physics， chemistry， biology or informatics can apply for undergraduate programs at the mainlands colleges and universities without taking the entrance exams， Zhu Fenglian， spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Offi ce of the State Council， said on March 31.

Zhu said the programs are also open to Taiwan athletes who were placed in the top three positions at the National Games， the Asian Games and the Olympic Games.

The students and athletes can be enrolled if they pass the assessment of the colleges and universities.

The circular was issued by the Ministry of Education， the General Administration of Sport of China and the China Association for Science and Technology.

Hotpot for Heroes

Hundreds of hotpot restaurants in Sichuan Province in south-west China have promised to treat medical workers who assisted Hubei Province to cope with COVID-19 to free hotpot meals for the rest of the year， the Sichuan Hotpot Association said.

A total of 348 hotpot restaurants in Sichuan， famous for its spicy cuisine， have responded to the call to treat medical workers to free meals to pay their respects.

Medics can check a mobile app to fi nd nearby restaurants making the year-long offer and avail of it by showing either their ID or work ID. A 20 percent discount will be provided for nonmedical people dining with them.

Medics who have assisted in Italy are included in the project.

Sichuan sent over 1，400 medical workers to Hubei since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Picking Up the Threads

An embroiderer makes ethnic patterns in a poverty alleviation workshop in Rongjiang， a county in Guizhou Province， southwest China， on March 30. By then 21 of the 22 poverty alleviation workshops in the country had resumed production in an orderly manner.

More Jobs

The Ministry of Veterans Affairs has secured 55，000 jobs for exservice personnel in four leading Chinese companies in the private sector， according to agreements signed between the ministry and the quartet on March 31.

The four are ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing， courier service provider SF Express as well as e-commerce giants JD.com and Alibaba Group.

The jobs span posts from e-commerce managers and accountants to sales representatives， mechanics， warehouse managers and drivers.

Upon recommendation， veterans can apply for a post based on their individual conditions.

The ministry has stepped up efforts to boost employment for ex-service personnel， particularly amid the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Spring Cleaning

A fi reman disinfects a kindergarten in Yangzhou， Jiangsu Province in east China， on March 30. The operation was part of efforts in preparation for school resumption.

Signless Infection

A total of 1，541 asymptomatic patients infected with COVID-19 were put under medical observation by March 30， including 205 imported cases， the National Health Commission said on March 31.

Symptom-free individuals infected with COVID-19 may lead to further spreading of the disease. However， the infectivity of asymptomatic cases is still unclear， the commission said in an online article.

Some experts think that asymptomatic infections where there is no coughing or sneezing may be less infectious.

Tax Cuts

The State Taxation Administration（STA）， Chinas top tax watchdog， said on March 31 that tax and fee cuts topped 402.7 billion yuan（$56.8 billion） in the fi rst two months of this year.

Of the total， the preferential tax and fee measures unveiled to support the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease （COVID-19） and economic development generated savings of 158.9 billion yuan （$22.4 billion）， Wang Daoshu， an offi cial with the STA， told a press conference.

The remaining 243.8 billion yuan （$34.3 billion） of taxes and fees were reduced as a result of the implementation of a larger scale of tax and fee cuts rolled out last year.

The benefi ts from the cuts are expected to increase as new batches of policies aimed at alleviating the burdens of small fi rms and private businesses were implemented from March， according to Wang.

NEV Boom

There will be a huge demand for new-energy vehicle （NEV） charging poles in China as the country is expected to have more NEVs on the road in the next fi ve years， China Securities Journal reported.

By January， China had built 531，000 public charging poles and 712，000 private ones， with one charger per 3.5 NEVs on average， the paper said， citing data from the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance.

The alliance predicts another 373，000 private charging poles， 156，000 public charging poles as well as 12，000 public charging stations will be installed in 2020.

Despite the sectors rapid expansion， the number of charging poles still falls short of meeting consumers demand.

China is expected to have 64.8 million pure electric vehicles by 2030， creating a need for an additional 63 million charging poles， according to estimates from Chen Qingtai， President of China EV100， an electric vehicle industry think tank.

As investment fl oods into the sector to fi ll the gap， China will see higher demand for charging facilities， which will boost the revenues and profi ts of companies involved in charging pole industrial chains， according to an analyst with New Times Securities.

Online Demonstration

Technicians of the Jereh Group in Yantai， Shandong Province in east China， demonstrate equipment testing on tablets to clients in Saudi Arabia on March 30. Since the clients are unable to examine the products on site during the novel coronavirus pandemic， the technicians are using livestreaming to show how to operate the equipment.

Circulation Industry

Circulation enterprises in China have advanced work resumption with current market supply at a suffi cient level， while retail prices of daily necessities have dropped， Wang Bin， an offi cial with the Ministry of Commerce， told a press conference on March 28.

As of March 27， around 99.4 percent of Chinas retail markets of farm produce had reopened， with 97.6 percent of business owners resuming operations.

The resumption rates of large chain supermarkets and convenience stores reached 99.5 percent and 95.4 percent， respectively， with their sales volume surpassing the levels recorded in the same period last year.

All e-commerce platforms and 95.8 percent of shopping malls had reopened， according to Wang.

Meanwhile， the retail prices of daily necessities had retreated since the beginning of March， he said.

Cultural Tourism

With online cultural products fl ourishing amid the COVID-19 pandemic， Chinas cultural tourism industry hopes to grab the opportunities brought by digital development based on 5G technology.

China has been accelerating deployment of 5G networks in recent years. It plans to build more than 555，000 5G base stations nationwide by the end of 2020.

A circular on 5G development issued recently by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology （MIIT） stressed the promotion of new information consumption based on 5G， calling for multimedia innovation in education， entertainment and mass media.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak， the livestreaming of a concert by the Xian Symphony Orchestra at the Xian Concert Hall in Shaanxi Province， northwest China， received 42，000 views in an hour.

According to Cao Jiwen， Brand Director of the Xian Symphony Orchestra， a boom in online cultural products， including cloud exhibitions， online disco dancing and virtual tours， served to test the waters for the upcoming 5G era.

Cao said the 5G commercial use would lead to technical changes in high-defi nition video， virtual reality and augmented reality systems in Chinas cultural tourism industry， nurturing new consumption models.

Facing new development trends， China will promote supplyside structural reform with new technologies like 5G and ultra high defi nition to cultivate new forms of business， according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

FarmersIncome

A farmer picks strawberries in a greenhouse at an agricultural garden in Luanzhou， Hebei Province in north China， on March 29. The local government has encouraged agricultural enterprises and cooperatives to start production to help farmers get employed and improve their income.

Trade Deficit

Chinas service trade fell in the fi rst two months of 2020 due to the novel coronavirus outbreak， but the trade structure has kept improving with narrowing defi cit， data from the Ministry of Commerce（MOFCOM） showed on March 31.

In contrast to merchandise trade， trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products such as transportation， tourism， telecommunications， construction， advertising， computing and accounting.

Service trade totaled 740.31 billion yuan （$104.6 billion） dur- ing the January-February period， down 11.6 percent year on year， MOFCOM said in an online statement.

Service exports amounted to 275.07 billion yuan （$38.7 billion）， down 6 percent， while imports fell 14.6 percent to 465.23 billion yuan（$65.6 billion）.

The service trade defi cit stood at 190.16 billion yuan （$26.8 billion） during the period， down 24.6 percent from the same period last year.

The ministry highlighted the strong resilience in Chinas trade of knowledge-intensive services amid the pandemic， which increased 1 percent year on year to 276.57 billion yuan （$38.9 billion）.

More Ventilators

Chinese enterprises have bolstered production capacity for ventilators to overcome the shortage amid efforts to fi ght against COVID-19， the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology （MIIT） said on March 30.

Pushing the work resumption of medical equipment enterprises is a top priority to ensure suffi cient supply amid the epidemic， Xu Kemin， an offi cial with the MIIT， said at a press conference.

As of March 29， major pro- ducers across China had offered 27，000 ventilators， with some 3，000 of them being invasive ventilators， fulfi lling the countrys antiepidemic needs. While meeting the domestic demand， it has provided around 1，700 invasive ventilators to other countries since March 19.

China has received orders for about 20，000 ventilators from other countries， Xu noted， adding that 21 invasive ventilator manufacturers have swung into full gear to meet the surging demand in the foreign market.

The ministry will take more steps to elevate productive capacity while urging fi rms to tighten quality supervision and enhance production safety， Xu added.

Back to Business

A vendor presents goods via online live broadcast from the Hankou North International Commodity Exchange Center in Wuhan， Hubei Province in central China， on March 29. The center has fully resumed operation as the novel coronavirus epidemic comes under control in the country.