Guangdong unites in lending a much-needed helping hand

Widespread concern has been voiced in an area of Foshan city, Guangdong province, over the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong, a senior district official said.

"Shunde district Party Committee and government always stand behind their Hong Kong compatriots," Tang Leijing, a member of the Standing Committee of Shunde District Party Committee, said.

Tang added that government departments have sought public donations and support to help Hong Kong win this crucial battle.

"No matter where they are in the world, Shunde people are united and share weal and woe (good and bad days) with one heart," she said at a donation ceremony in Shunde to support Hong Kong.

Tang said she believed Hong Kong would win its fight against the pandemic with support from the Chinese mainland.

Ou Zhipeng, deputy director of Shunde district's United Front Work Department, said his department has donated funds and sent four batches of anti-pandemic supplies, livelihood materials and medicines worth a total of 2.8 million yuan ($443,000) to Hong Kong.

"More social donations will be sent to the city in weeks to come to help it curb the spread of the coronavirus," he said.

Shunde is not alone in helping Hong Kong.

Major cities, districts, organizations and companies in Guangdong, one of the world's major production bases, are doing everything they can to help Hong Kong fight the pandemic.

In the Pearl River Delta, key production hubs and manufacturers are working all hours to ensure that adequate supplies of anti-COVID-19 materials and medicines, along with meat, eggs, vegetables, dairy and other agricultural produce reach Hong Kong.

Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech Co said it supplied more than 30 million COVID-19 antigen detection reagents to Hong Kong from Wednesday to Sunday.

The company said in a statement it is sparing no effort to produce such reagents to ensure that sufficient supplies help the city.

To allow anti-COVID-19 materials, medicines and other daily necessities to reach Hong Kong in the shortest possible time, customs departments in major exit and entry ports in Guangdong have launched 24-hour services to ensure all-day clearance for goods and related material.

Chen Chao, a senior officer at Shenzhen Bay customs, said 1,000 trucks carrying face masks, testing kits and related anti-COVID-19 and livelihood materials are leaving Shenzhen Bay Port for Hong Kong every day on average.

"Arrangements have been made for customs officers to be on duty in shifts day and night. Special green channels have also been opened to ensure all materials are inspected and quarantined on arrival," Chen said.

At Huanggang Port, Shenzhen officials have opened special counters to handle customs declarations and related business, guaranteeing 24-hour clearance to Hong Kong.

Customs departments in Guangdong have simplified procedures and shortened clearance time to ensure there is no delay for goods and related materials being sent to the city.

The customs authorities in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, said in a statement they have set up a special task force to help local companies handle procedures to ensure the smooth and rapid clearance of materials supplied to Hong Kong.

In Foshan, a batch of more than 1.5 million face masks in four standard containers and 250,000 antigen detection reagents have been sent to Hong Kong on ships loaded at the city's Beijiao and Rongqi ports this month.

Deng Weiqi, chairman of Foshan Nanhai Plus Medical, said, "With the support and guidance of customs departments, it took only half a day to transport these masks from the factory to the port, allowing us to arrange the shipment more flexibly."

Guangdong, the major supplier of meat, vegetables and related agricultural produce to Hong Kong, has opened numerous channels to ensure smooth transportation and guarantee adequate supplies of medical materials and other daily necessities.

In addition to traditional land routes, on which a large number of trucks operate between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, a special rail service and water routes have been opened to help improve transportation capacity to ensure adequate materials are supplied to Hong Kong.

On Wednesday, a special freight train carrying 18 containers left Shenzhen for Hong Kong to help stabilize the supply of goods from the mainland to the city, China Railway Guangzhou Group said.

The province has also opened six special water routes to Hong Kong, according to the Guangdong Provincial Department of Commerce.

In Shenzhen, ships now head to Hong Kong from Yantian Port every day, playing a key role in supporting the stricken city's fight against COVID-19, according to Dong Yanze, an official with Shenzhen's transportation bureau.

"Water routes, which have the advantages of safety, environmental protection and strong capacity, have become a main force for cross-border transportation, playing a big part in supplying anti-COVID-19 and livelihood materials to Hong Kong," Dong said.

Statistics from the Guangdong Department of Transport show that anti-COVID-19 and livelihood materials shipped to Hong Kong via water now comprise some 90 percent of the total.