Xi Jinping Urges Unremitting Efforts in Epidemic Control and Coordinated Economic and Social Development

A meeting was convened in Beijing on 23 February to coordinate efforts to fight the COVID-19 outbreak on the one hand and ensure economic and social development on the other. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People’s Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the meeting and made important remarks. He stressed that the Chinese nation, who endured many trials and tribulations in its history, has never been defeated. Instead, it has emerged ever more resilient and stronger from the hardships.

The situation surrounding the epidemic remains fluid and complex, and our fight against it has entered a critical and most demanding stage. Party committees and governments at all levels must continue to make unremitting efforts with greater confidence and resolve to implement all prevention and control measures down to the last detail, turn pressure into motivation and challenges into opportunities, and resume life and work in an orderly manner. Greater efforts must be made to ensure stability in employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and market expectations, and adjust policies accordingly to unleash the tremendous potential and driving force of China’s development and achieve the economic and social development goals set for this year.

Xi stressed that the COVID-19 outbreak is a major public health emergency, one that is fastest spreading, most widely affecting and most difficult to contain since the founding of the People’s Republic. It is a crisis and a major test for us. Thanks to our arduous prevention and control efforts, there are growing indications that the situation is turning for the better. This proves that the CPC Central Committee’s assessment of the situation is correct, the response plans it made are timely, and the measures taken are effective. The progress in epidemic control once again demonstrates the great strengths of the CPC leadership and the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

While fully recognizing the achievements made thus far, Xi warned Party committees and governments at all levels against any tendency to let down guard, become weary of the fight, take chances, and slacken efforts. He urged unremitting efforts to see that all response measures are delivered on the ground and to the full extent. No victory can be claimed until the virus is completely defeated. To this end, Xi made a seven-point instruction and called for the following efforts:

First, to win the battle of safeguarding Hubei Province and its capital city Wuhan with great resolve. Continuing priorities must be given to containing the epidemic in communities and to treating the infected. The spread of the disease to other regions must be stopped, and epidemic control in areas with weak capacity must be strengthened. The admission and cure rates must be substantially raised and the infection and case fatality rates lowered.

Second, to do everything possible to ensure epidemic control in Beijing. More needs to be done to prevent both imported cases and further spread of the disease in the capital. Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei must take coordinated and comprehensive measures to curb the infection at its source.

Third, to ensure coordinated deployment of medical resources and key supplies.

Fourth, to expedite breakthroughs in research.

Fifth, to pursue greater international and regional cooperation. It is important that China stay in close communication with the World Health Organization, share its epidemic control experience with other countries, and seek closer international cooperation on medicine and vaccine development.

Sixth, to make media and public outreach more effective.

Seventh, to ensure social stability.

Xi noted that the epidemic will inevitably have a big impact on China’s economic and social development. At such a time, it is all the more important to view China’s development from a comprehensive, dialectical and long-term perspective, and to boost and firm up confidence. All things considered, the fundamentals sustaining China’s sound economic growth in the long run remain unchanged, and the impact of the epidemic is temporary and generally manageable.

With regard to the orderly resumption of work and production, Xi made an eight-point instruction:

First, a region-specific, risk-based, and targeted approach should be adopted in resuming work and production. Low-risk regions should promptly reorient their response strategies to focus on preventing imported cases from other parts of the country and fully restore the normal order of production and life. Medium-risk regions should resume work and production in an orderly way in light of the local epidemic situations. High-risk regions should continue to concentrate efforts on epidemic prevention and control.

Second, macro regulation should be enhanced. The proactive fiscal policy can have a bigger role to play. More needs to be done to develop interim, targeted tax and fee cuts to tide micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses over difficulties. The prudent monetary policy should be applied with greater flexibility and the right intensity. Existing financial incentives should be put to good use, while new policy measures should be drawn up as appropriate.

Third, more and multi-pronged efforts should be made to ensure stable employment.

Fourth, poverty reduction targets must be met no matter what.

Fifth, support should be given to enterprises for resuming work and production. Targeted response strategies should be adopted in different regions with different risk levels. Obstacles that impede the movement of people and goods should be cleared, and cargo transport restrictions removed to enable coordinated resumption of work and production across all links in the industrial chain.

Sixth, no time must be lost to start spring farming.

Seventh, basic livelihood must be ensured.

Eighth, foreign trade and investment should be kept stable. Appropriate policy tools including export tax rebates and export credit insurances should be put to full and good use to enable smooth operation of the industrial and supply chains of foreign trade. Efforts should be made to ensure the sound implementation of major foreign investment projects, open up the financial and other service sectors, and further improve the business environment to boost the confidence of foreign businesses in making long-term investment in China.