The sunrise scenery at Yellow Crane Pavilion in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)
The peak of the epidemic in China is over, but it is not time to celebrate.
BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- After an intense battle against COVID-19, the peak of the epidemic in China is over. It is time for China to gear up to help other countries and help themselves resume a normal life.
Although China is moving into a post-peak epidemic period, a worldwide pandemic is developing with the number of infections outside of China topping 60,000, according to reports.
China will never forget those who reached out with helping hands when it was hit hard by the epidemic. It is time to give back. As a line from the Book of Songs goes: "You throw a peach to me; I give you a white jade for friendship."
China always shares materials with others. Medicines, masks, detection kits and other medical materials were shipped from China to other countries in need. It also sent medical experts to countries such as Iran, Iraq and Italy to support local epidemic prevention and control and has decided to donate 20 million U.S. dollars to the WHO to support international cooperation in the fight against the virus.
Medical supplies, including masks, gloves and protective suits, donated to Italy by Lishui City, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 1, 2020. (Xinhua)
China always shares information with others. It keeps the world well-informed of its infection and death numbers and shares the genome sequence with the WHO, a critical move for other countries to work out solutions for treatment at the earliest time possible.
China always shares solutions with others. It published guidelines on COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control and shared them with more than 100 countries and over 10 international and regional organizations. Bilateral and multilateral working mechanisms have been set up to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against the virus.
In the post-peak period, with openness, transparency and a high sense of responsibility for global public health security and people's well-being, China will continue to tackle the epidemic alongside the international community.
The production lines run at a plant of Beijing Hyundai in Cangzhou City, north China's Hebei Province, March 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
Another task high on China's agenda is to resume normal production and work.
China faces many challenges in resuming production such as logistics, lack of funds and quarantine materials and an uncertain global environment. But there is no excuse for tardiness in making actions. Chinese authorities have coordinated efforts to help companies solve these problems.
Monetary and credit support are indispensable for helping industrial businesses restart. The central bank has decided to lower the proportion of funds for some banks to set aside, a clear signal to pump up liquidity and support recovery of the real economy. Financial institutions have extended credit worth over 1.4 trillion yuan (200 billion U.S. dollars) to companies hit by the epidemic.
Precise and targeted approaches matter. Favorable policies have been extended to many sectors especially private and micro-sized firms and those engaged in manufacturing and spring-plow activities.
The authorities also attach importance to stabilizing foreign trade and introduced a slew of measures in fiscal, credit and insurance sectors helping export companies ease capital strains. Since the epidemic is spreading all over the world, China's stabilization of foreign trade and foreign investment has contributed to the stabilization of the world economy, reflecting the responsibility of a major responsible country.
Outside of Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, the capacity operating rate of industrial enterprises with annual sales revenue over 20 million yuan has reached 95 percent on average, according to a news conference by a joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council held on Friday.
Although the peak of the epidemic in China has passed, it is not time to celebrate. Solid work and cooperation are still important to secure the final victory against the virus in China and in the rest of the world. ■
(News from: http://www.xinhuanet.com)