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Wednesday, April 01, 2020, 23:05
Xi calls for efforts to ensure smooth global supply chain
By Xinhua
Wednesday, April 01, 2020, 23:05 By Xinhua

President Xi Jinping inspects an industrial park producing auto parts and molds in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, on March 29, 2020. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

HANGZHOU - Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has called for efforts to ensure smooth global supply chain to facilitate the resumption of normal economic and trade activities.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during an inspection tour for COVID-19 control and work resumption in east China's Zhejiang province from Sunday to Wednesday.

More efforts should be made to accelerate and further expand work and production resumption in an orderly manner on the premise of strictly implementing pandemic prevention and control measures, Xi said

Though the increasingly fast spread of the COVID-19 abroad has disrupted international economic and trade activities and brought new challenges to China's economic development, it has also provided fresh opportunities for expediting the country's development in science and technology and advancing industrial upgrading, Xi said.

More efforts should be made to accelerate and further expand work and production resumption in an orderly manner on the premise of strictly implementing pandemic prevention and control measures, Xi said.

While seizing the opportunities of industrial digitization and digital industrialization, China also needs to expedite the construction of "new infrastructure" projects such as 5G networks and data centers, and deploy strategic emerging sectors and industries of the future including digital economy, life health services and new materials, he said.

Xi also stressed the importance of expanding reform of important areas and key links. 

President Xi Jinping visits the Chuanshan port area of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, one of the world's top container ports, on March 29, 2020. (XINHUA)

Efforts to facilitate smooth flow of exports, imports urged

The president has also urged efforts to promote the smooth flow of products out of and into the country.

He called for efforts to cope with and blunt the adverse impacts of the global restrictive measures on cargo shipping and facilitate the smooth flow of the country's exports and imports

On the first leg of his tour, Xi visited the Chuanshan port area of the Ningbo Zhoushan Port, whose throughput has recovered to normal levels due to the timely measures it adopted to resume production.

The Ningbo Zhoushan Port took the lead in resuming production, which was of great significance to promoting Chinese enterprises to resume work and production as well as restoring the logistics system and the global industrial chains, Xi said.

ALSO READ: China: Epidemic impact on first-quarter trade manageable

He called for efforts to cope with and blunt the adverse impacts of the global restrictive measures on cargo shipping and facilitate the smooth flow of the country's exports and imports.

While regarding the port as a hard-core power, Xi said Zhoushan port plays an important role in national strategies such as the building of the Belt and Road, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the integration of the Yangtze River Delta.  

SMEs 'will surely ride out hard times'

The president said China's small and medium-sized enterprises, with their smartness and vitality, will surely pull through the hard times and embrace better development.

Normal production of enterprises can keep the national economy on track and create employment opportunities for the public

Xi Jinping, Chinese President

While visiting an industrial park that produces high-end auto parts and molds in Ningbo, Xi inspected resumption of work and production at a privately-owned manufacturer.

By the assembly line, Xi asked the workers if they encountered any difficulties on their way back to work or during daily life, and if they got their paychecks on time.

ALSO READ: China to step up support for SMEs, increase bond issuance

"Normal production of enterprises can keep the national economy on track and create employment opportunities for the public," Xi said.

Chinese SMEs, which are good at facing challenges head-on and striving for greatness, will definitely be tided over with support from the Party, the government and the society, Xi noted. 

Preventing imported COVID-19 cases 'top priority'

Xi has stressed coordinating efforts for the novel coronavirus disease control and economic and social development, and striving to achieve this year's economic and social development goals.

China will make preventing imported cases the top priority in the country's COVID-19 response at present and even for a "prolonged" period of time, President Xi said.

"The epidemic situation in China is moving steadily in a positive direction, and the peak of the current COVID-19 outbreak is over in the country," Xi said.

However, the risk posed by imported cases has sharply risen as the epidemic is accelerating its spread across the world, he said.

Xi also called for strengthening the work on asymptomatic coronavirus cases in China.  

Green, smarter cities

Xi also said major cities can become "smarter" by using big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence technologies to modernize urban governance.   

READ MORE: Xi envisions cooperation on big data

He made the remarks while visiting the City Brain, a smart city platform aiming to improve urban management in Hangzhou.

Advancing the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance requires stepping up modernizing the system and capacity for urban management, Xi said.   

Xi stressed utilizing big data, cloud computing, blockchain, artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies to innovate in the methods, models and visions of urban management and to make cities "smarter."

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