Xi chairs leadership meeting on COVID-19 control, economic development

Photo taken on Feb. 21, 2020 shows the interior of a hospital complex building used for infectious disease prevention in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to the epidemic control, with Xi paying constant attention to the situation, making the epidemic prevention and control the most important task, and personally directing the work and making arrangements, said an official release of the meeting.

BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Friday held a meeting on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the coordination between the epidemic control and economic and social development.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired the meeting.

The meeting came two days after Xi chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to hear reports on the epidemic prevention and control and the coordination between epidemic control and economic and social development.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to the epidemic control, with Xi paying constant attention to the situation, making the epidemic prevention and control the most important task, and personally directing the work and making arrangements, said an official release of the meeting.

China's epidemic prevention and control efforts have won extensive support from the international community, said the release.

Medical workers check a worker of Leishenshan Hospital, a makeshift hospital built in Wuhan, at a medical observation area in Fengtai District of Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 21, 2020. (Photo by Chen Zhonghao/Xinhua)

EPIDEMIC "PRELIMINARILY CONTAINED"

The spread of the COVID-19 epidemic has preliminarily been contained, according to the meeting, which cited the overall declining trend of the new confirmed and suspected cases across the country and the rapid increase of the number of cured patients, especially big drops in the new cases outside the epicenter Hubei Province.

The release said the nationwide inflection point of the epidemic has not yet arrived, and the situation remains grim and complex in Hubei and its capital city Wuhan.

It demanded unremitting efforts of Party committees and governments at all levels to secure a full victory in the people's war against the epidemic.

Highlighting differentiated containment strategies, the meeting demanded resolute efforts in Hubei and Wuhan to curb the spread of the virus, improved treatment for patients, strengthened support of medical personnel and supplies, and all-out epidemic control efforts in Beijing.

The meeting also called for more care for frontline medical staff and ensuring the production of medical materials as well as the supply of daily necessities.

Staff members work at a workshop of Haoshou Garments Co., Ltd. in Jinjiang City of southeast China's Fujian Province, Feb. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)

RESILIENCE OF ECONOMY

The meeting underlined the tremendous resilience and potential of China's economy despite the notable impact brought about by the epidemic.

The long-term trend of steady growth with a sound momentum will not change, according to the meeting.

The meeting required establishing an economic and social order compatible with the epidemic control and pushing for the resumption of work and production in an orderly manner.

The meeting stressed the need to ensure that the task of poverty relief is completed on schedule, to prevent and control pollution, with greater efforts in enhancing collection and treatment capacities for medical waste and hazardous waste, and to resolutely secure the bottom line against systemic financial risks.

With more positivity in proactive fiscal policy, prudent monetary policy should be more flexible, and precise financial services should be provided for the resumption of business and the growth of the real economy.

The meeting urged accurate implementation of relief policies to support small and medium-sized businesses and enterprises in vital industries, especially enterprises that have been severely affected by the epidemic, such as accommodation, catering, sports, entertainment, transportation and tourism.

The meeting required work to ensure stable production and supply of farm produce, preparation for spring farming and prevention and mitigation of disasters.

The meeting stressed expanding effective demand, unleashing consumption potential, giving full play to the key role of effective investment and stepping up the construction of new investment projects.

Efforts will also be made to prop up support for the research and development of related reagents, drugs and vaccines, and prompt the development of biomedicine, medical equipment, 5G networks and industrial Internet.

The meeting called for deepening opening up and international cooperation, enhancing communication and coordination with China's economic and trade partners, and giving priority to helping the leading enterprises that have a significant influence in the global supply chain to resume production and supply.

The meeting also highlighted active international cooperation in epidemic prevention and control from the perspective of building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Key export enterprises will be supported to resume operation as soon as possible, according to the meeting.

It also underlined stabilizing employment and prices, ensuring the basic living needs of poor urban residents, as well as comforting and compensating the families of medical workers and other personnel who died fighting the epidemic.