SCIO briefing on stabilizing the fundamentals of foreign trade and investment and promoting the quality development of commerce
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E-mail China.org.cn, May 20, 2020
CCTV:
We all know that during the epidemic, securing the residents' basic necessities is a big challenge. In many countries, there are cases of panic buying and items running out of stock. But China did well in ensuring necessary supplies earlier. What did the Ministry of Commerce do in this aspect? Thank you.
Zhong Shan:
Ensuring the supply of the country's basic necessities is a tough task concerning people's livelihood and an important part of winning the battle against the epidemic. Generally speaking, China's market is in abundant supply amid the outbreak. Basically, the supplies weren't stopped or out of stock and prices were stable. The work we have done under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee is mainly in the following three aspects:
First, we worked to ensure supplies in key areas, including Wuhan, Beijing, and the other cities in Hubei province. On January 23, the Ministry of Commerce established a "nine-province joint supply mechanism," aimed to keep track of the supply and demand situation, secure the supply of daily necessities in key areas, and better deploy resources in a timely manner. At the same time, in order to implement various tasks concerning ensuring supplies, the Ministry of Commerce sent three batches of working teams to Wuhan, mainly for coordination and supervision. During the epidemic, the "nine-province joint supply mechanism" came into play when Wuhan was in short supply or in need of certain items. For example, when the epidemic broke out, vegetables in Wuhan were in shortage. Within two days, Chongqing city sent 400 tons of vegetables to Wuhan. During that time, Wuhan's disposable lunch boxes were also inadequate, and Hunan province collected enough boxes for them within 10 hours. In addition, provinces, such as Guangxi, Shandong, and Yunnan, that produce a large amount of vegetables all sent vegetables and basic necessities to Wuhan, and there were even special trains running to transport these supplies. After the joint supply mechanism was put into operation, the supply of daily necessities in Wuhan city and Hubei province was basically sufficient amid the epidemic. Apart from Hubei Province, eight other provinces whose supplies were limited chose to provide supplies to Wuhan and Hubei first as long as they were in need. Wuhan's supply was more abundant than the country's average level during its lockdown. We stocked more than one week's worth of daily necessities, such as rice, noodles, oil, meat, eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables, and the longest could last over 30 days. These supplies were much ampler than the national average.
Second, we have strengthened market coordination across the country. We have established a nation-wide daily briefing system that monitors and displays inventory information on eight key daily necessities. At the same time, we also made a list of 500 major businesses, including every link of the supply chain (production, wholesale, online and offline retail, and transportation) to ensure adequate supplies. For example, there was a time when Beijing had a shortage of instant noodles and meat, but the demand was quickly met through coordination. Similar demands of certain necessities were also met in other parts of the country through market coordination. In general, we have managed to ensure market supply across China.
Third, we have introduced new business and delivery models. After the COVID-19 outbreak, especially when communities in Wuhan were locked down, there was a time when the residents had problems buying groceries. In response to this, the Ministry of Commerce, in collaboration with other ministries, as well as the Hubei and Wuhan authorities, organized group buying or mass buying to help local communities reduce unnecessary outings. Moreover, we also mobilized over 1,100 vehicles and more than 20,000 volunteers to send vegetables and other needed groceries to communities.
All of this could not have happened without the firm leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, as well as the concerted efforts of the whole country. It also fully demonstrated the advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics and its mass mobilization ability to combat the epidemic. Thank you.
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