20/04/2020
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China expects to import more soybeans and pork this year following the novel coronavirus outbreak and African swine fever, which has decimated its pig herds.
Soybean imports are forecast at 92.48 million tonnes this year, rising to 96.62 million tonnes in 2025 and 99.52 million tonnes in 2029, an official from the agriculture ministry told a video conference on the outlook for agriculture released on Monday.
Pork imports this year are seen rising to 2.8 million tonnes, a 32.7% increase from the previous year.
China is a key buyer and consumer of soybeans and pork globally, and typically imports millions of tonnes of soybeans per year to crush for meal to feed its livestock.
The African swine fever outbreak, however, had slashed China’s pig herd by over 40% last year, reducing supplies in the world’s biggest pork consumer.
Combined with the coronavirus outbreak, which hit the transport of pigs and delayed the restart of slaughtering plants, prices of China’s favourite meat rose to record levels in February.
China has been increasing pork imports in recent months to make up for the drop in domestic supply.
Despite the expected surge in imports, China’s 2020 pork consumption is forecast to fall to 42.06 million tonnes, down 5.6% year-on-year, hit by high prices and a fall in consumer demand due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the agriculture ministry.
In line with the slowing consumption, China’s slaughtered pig herd this year will fall 7.8% year-on-year to 501.49 million heads. Pork output this year will also decline to 39.34 million tonnes from 2019, but will rebound to around 54 million tonnes in 2022.
In the longer term, however, pork imports are expected to gradually fall, the ministry forecast, while beef and mutton imports are set to increase in the next decade.
Meanwhile, China’s domestic soybean output is seen at 18.81 million tonnes in 2020, a 3.9% gain from the previous year, while crushing volumes were pegged at 85.98 million tonnes.
Soybean consumption will increase steadily and continue to rely mainly on imports in the next 10 years, said a ministry official.
The ministry also said China’s corn acreage and output are both set to increase in 2020, with production forecast to reach over 260 million tonnes this year, while annual rice output is expected to hold steady above 200 million tonnes per year in the next 10 years.
Source: Reuters
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26/03/2020
BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua called for all-out efforts to make full use of online platforms to boost employment as the novel coronavirus outbreak has dampened the country’s job market.
Hu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks Wednesday during an investigation of a national online recruitment program.
The special hiring project, launched on March 20, offered over 10 million positions for job seekers.
After hearing reports of the program, Hu held video conferences to learn about work resumption of enterprises and online recruitment and paid special attention to key groups like college graduates and migrant workers.
Noting that this year’s employment situation could be tough due to the epidemic, Hu urged localities and relevant government agencies to guide all kinds of employers to provide more types of jobs and help those with employment difficulties.
The vice premier also underlined the use of online platforms in special recruitment plans, career guidance and vocational training as normal hiring activities were disrupted by the outbreak.
Meanwhile, public employment service agencies and relevant market institutions should be encouraged to share information on job vacancies and strengthen the coordination of online and offline recruitment activities to ensure a stable job market, Hu said.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in boost employment, Chinese Vice Premier, country's, dampened, job market, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, National, novel coronavirus outbreak, online, online platforms, recruitment program, Uncategorized |
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19/03/2020
NANJING, March 19 (Xinhua) — Chinese cities are encouraging residents to dine out and shop with measures such as handing out e-vouchers to boost consumption sectors hit hard by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Like many living in the eastern city of Nanjing, Wang Linlin was waked up by her alarm clock at midnight and with a few clicks on her cellphone, she was ready to meet her luck of the draw: getting a meal voucher worth 100 yuan (about 14.2 U.S. dollars).
“I’ve always been thinking about hanging out and having hotpot with my friends after the epidemic, so getting a voucher would be great,” Wang said.
Nanjing has been giving out vouchers worth 318 million yuan to its residents since Sunday. People are invited to participate in lotteries for e-vouchers which can be used in restaurants, gymnasiums, bookshops as well as tourist spots, helping the service sector bounce back.
The voucher bonus has been well received as more than 1.6 million local citizens have registered for the lotteries as of Monday, according to the Nanjing Big Data Administration Bureau.
Besides Nanjing, many other regions have also been taking similar actions.
Macao gives out vouchers totaling 2.2 billion patacas (about 275 million U.S. dollars) to its residents. The city of Ningbo in east China’s Zhejiang Province is issuing consumption vouchers worth 100 million yuan while the city of Jinan, east China’s Shandong Province, is handing out vouchers worth 20 million yuan to stimulate spending on tourism and culture.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, Chinese customers have shied away from restaurants and shopping malls. China’s retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of consumption growth, declined 20.5 percent year on year in the first two months of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
“People are more willing to dine out with the vouchers, which can boost confidence in the catering sector and finally get the economy back on track,” said Shen Jiahua, chairman of a chain restaurant company in Nanjing.
After the coronavirus outbreak ends, people are eager to spend generously. According to a survey conducted by the Jiangsu consumers council, nearly 90 percent of the respondents expressed suppressed consumption desire.
Restaurants, shopping malls, movie theaters, gymnasiums and tourist spots are the top five destinations for consumers to unleash their spending spree after normal life resumes, the survey showed.
Local officials across China have been taking the lead in recent days in patronizing restaurants and shopping malls, hoping to use their appearances in public to persuade more residents to go outside.
In provinces such as Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi, government notices have urged officials to dine out and go shopping to help related businesses through the epidemic period.
“Government officials are using their actions to convey confidence and support work resumption and consumer spending,” commented a Chinese netizen.
Source: Xinhua
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02/03/2020
WUHAN, March 1 (Xinhua) — The temporary hospital with the most beds in Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak in central China’s Hubei Province, has discharged a total of over 1,000 people as of Sunday, according to local authorities.
The Jianghan temporary hospital, converted from Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, started receiving patients from Feb. 5. It is equipped with 1,564 beds and over 1,100 staff, according to the provincial epidemic prevention and control headquarters.
The hospital has received a total of 1,830 patients, the most in temporary hospitals in Wuhan, by the end of Saturday, and a total of 1,072 patients have been discharged from the hospital as of Sunday, the headquarters said.
As of Friday, Wuhan has over 5,000 spare beds in its 16 temporary hospitals, which were converted from gyms, exhibition centers and other facilities to cope with a shortage of beds amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Source: Xinhua
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23/02/2020
Head nurse Sun Chun is seen at an ICU ward of the First Hospital of Wuhan City in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, Feb. 22, 2020. Sun Chun is among the first batch of medical workers dispatched from the First Hospital to the makeshift hospital of Leishenshan (Thunder God Mountain) in Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. After finishing the work at Leishenshan, she returned to the First Hospital and remained in the frontline of fighting against the virus. By now, she has taken care of some 167 COVID-19 patients with various degrees of symptoms. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)
Source: Xinhua
Posted in COVID-19, epicenter, First Hospital of Wuhan City, Head nurse, hubei province, ICU ward, Leishenshan (Thunder God Mountain) Hospital, makeshift hospital, novel coronavirus outbreak, Uncategorized, Wuhan |
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13/02/2020
BEIJING, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua has called for all-out efforts to ensure stable employment amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Hu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks Thursday at a teleconference on employment work amid the epidemic.
Stable employment is significant to resuming production, guaranteeing and improving people’s livelihood, and maintaining sound market expectations, Hu said.
He encouraged enterprises to resume production in a well-organized and safe manner while carrying out epidemic prevention and control work.
Massive layoffs must be prevented via efforts to help businesses keep their payrolls stable, while aid should be offered in a timely manner to those in need, he said.
Hu said the development of the employment market should be closely watched, and specific efforts should be made to take care of key groups such as college graduates and migrant workers.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Beijing, Chinese Vice Premier, novel coronavirus outbreak, Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Uncategorized |
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12/02/2020
BEIJING, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) — A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said epidemic prevention and control goes beyond borders and stronger communication, coordination and cooperation is needed to win the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks when commenting on reports that health ministers of the 27 European Union (EU) member states will hold a special meeting on the epidemic on Feb. 13 to coordinate action, and the EU will continue to offer assistance to China in combating the epidemic.
“We have noted relevant reports. The EU crisis management commissioner also stressed the importance for the entire international community to maintain solidarity and jointly respond to the virus,” said Geng.
He thanked the international community including the EU for their support and assistance to China in combating the epidemic.
Geng also stressed that China hoped relevant countries would remain cool-headed, make science-based assessments and rational responses, and heed recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“To defeat the virus as early as possible, China will continue to enhance communication and cooperation with the WHO and the world in an open, transparent and responsible manner,” he added.
on Wednesday said epidemic prevention and control goes beyond borders and stronger communication, coordination and cooperation is needed to win the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks when commenting on reports that health ministers of the 27 European Union (EU) member states will hold a special meeting on the epidemic on Feb. 13 to coordinate action, and the EU will continue to offer assistance to China in combating the epidemic.
“We have noted relevant reports. The EU crisis management commissioner also stressed the importance for the entire international community to maintain solidarity and jointly respond to the virus,” said Geng.
He thanked the international community including the EU for their support and assistance to China in combating the epidemic.
Geng also stressed that China hoped relevant countries would remain cool-headed, make science-based assessments and rational responses, and heed recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“To defeat the virus as early as possible, China will continue to enhance communication and cooperation with the WHO and the world in an open, transparent and responsible manner,” he added.
Source: Xinhua
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