Hebei: secure people's lives and orderly resume work and production

Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic in Shijiazhuang, Xingtai, and Nangong cities of Hebei Province have been effectively controlled. The province continues to secure the livelihoods of residents who remain under home quarantine, and is orderly and effectively resuming work and production in low-risk areas.

Precise control measures for different areas and levels Orderly resumption of work and production

Recently, Hebei Province printed and distributed the "Notice regarding the overall planning of anti-epidemic measures and quickening work and production resumption for socio-economic development". It proposes that on the basis of strictly implementing anti-epidemic measures in low-risk areas, it will orderly start work and production resumption and business and market resumption, and gradually return to regular productive activities. It will reduce the influences of the pandemic on socio-economic development to the greatest extent, and propel the overall acceleration of economic development.

"The palm oil that we urgently need will arrive soon, and workshop production will finally resume." On January 19, Li Jun, who is in charge of the Hebei Guxinfang Food Co., Ltd. located in Nanhe District of Xingtai City, was thrilled. Since the beginning of this wave of COVID-19 infections, supplier of raw materials his company needs cannot guarantee timely supplies. After the district's active coordination, the company’s production is gradually returning to normal.

In recent days, aside from Nangong and Longyao cities, other counties (cities and districts) in Xingtai City are introducing policies in succession to normalize anti-epidemic measures and systematically resume normal life and production.

"The government coordinated 2-million-yuan loans for us and solved our financial difficulty," Ma Hongru, who is in charge of Wansheng Plasthetics Co., Ltd. in Wei County of Xingtai City, states. He reported the company's difficulties to local officials and quickly received a response. A loan from the Postal Savings Bank of China coordinated by the government was already granted, and with the efforts of different parties, the company quickly started work resumption procedures. At present, the work resumption rate of key industrial enterprises and 103 industrial enterprises above designated sizes in the county have reached 100%.

In the Linkong economic district of Langfang City, central enterprises with project constructions were organized to prepare red packets for workers who stayed in positions, guarantee income raise for front-line workers during the pandemic, raise meal standards for front-line workers, and guide workers to concentrate on their jobs.

"Transitioning into normalized anti-epidemic measures, we are making great efforts to effectively and orderly resume work and production," says deputy mayor of Langfang Zhang Haichuan. The city is oganizing work resumption, coordinating efforts to solve the problems concerning supply chains, transportation of raw materials and goods for different projects, and accelerating the construction of 29 projects and 35 building sites. While securing the construction quality in the winter season, Langfang will go all out in accelerating the construction of key projects, and seize the double success of epidemic control and project construction.

Sparing no effort in market supplies, Securing residents’ normal livelihoods

Currently, the anti-epidemic campaign is still at a critical stage, and residents in high- and medium-risk areas remain under home quarantine. Shijiazhuang and Xingtai are doing their best to secure market supplies and closely monitoring and meeting the demands of residents under quarantine.

"We will not be out of reach for even a minute, we have people on duty all day long, 24 hours. During the busiest times, we could not go home for two days and two nights," says Hu Jingfeng, general Party branch secretary and director of the residents committee of the Jinma 3rd Community of Yuhua District of Shijiazhuang City.

This residents committee has 6 staff members in total. They are responsible for providing daily necessities for 2,000 residents in 4 neighborhoods, and have to strictly implement pandemic prevention and control policies. Although the workload is immense, they have arranged it in perfect order. "We created many Wechat groups in the communities, and residents can order things in sequence. By sending the lists of daily necessities they need into the groups, market and grocery store staffs will deliver the goods to the neighborhoods on time." In addition, senior people who have difficulty moving about and families with special needs have all been registered, and volunteers will provide home deliveries.

Since residents began home quarantine, Shijiazhuang organized over 60 large and medium-sized supermarket branches and over 400 chain convenient stores to carry out group purchase deliveries in nearby communities. The city has created 10,444 neighborhood Wechat groups for group purchases.

In addition, Shijiazhuang opened online supply channels and organized over 50 large and medium-sized e-commerce and community e-commerce operators to launch online supply distributions. According to available data, from January 10 to 23, over 3 million online orders were delivered in the city.

Contributed by Geng Jiankuo, Li Na, Dong Dazheng, reporters of Guangming Daily

Translated by Zhang Junye