China's commerce ministry boosts supply of necessities to regions with COVID-19 resurgences

BEIJING -- China's commerce ministry has been sparing no effort to boost the supply of daily necessities for regions experiencing COVID-19 resurgences, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

The ministry has been transporting goods from various locations to the affected regions to ensure the steady supply of daily necessities, ministry spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference.

By Wednesday, 12 provincial-level regions, including Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Zhejiang and Fujian, had provided Shanghai with 27,808 tons of vegetables, 850 tons of rice and flour, 500 tons of meat and eggs, and 6,180 tons of instant noodles, he said.

Shanghai reported 1,292 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 9,330 local asymptomatic cases on Wednesday, the municipal health commission said on Thursday.

To help areas facing tightened COVID-19 prevention measures, the ministry has increased the transport of agricultural products from neighboring provincial-level regions, Gao said.

As the Labor Day holiday is approaching, the ministry has urged local regions to further add the supply of daily necessities to meet the demand of residents over the holiday, he said.