Day: January 12, 2021

(Xinhua)08:52, August 03, 2020

China and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) share a bright future for cooperation in traditional medicine, given the long history of practicing traditional medicine and increasing government investment in healthcare in the countries, a Chinese official said in an interview.

Acupuncture and medicinal herbs, along with other traditional medicine components, are widely accepted in SCO countries, laying a solid foundation for the popularization of traditional medicine, said Yu Wenming, head of Chinas National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

He made the comments after an SCO online forum on traditional medicine on Thursday that brought together scholars, experts and politicians for discussions on traditional medicine and its role in fighting COVID-19.

Yu said that traditional medicine is a valuable treasure trove of medical wisdom and national cultures and has been proven effective in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

We should use this treasure to the greatest extent, he said, highlighting the significance of such cooperation to cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and other SCO member states.

As for existing cooperation, he said China has teamed up with other SCO countries and built several facilities for exchanges in traditional medicine.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, China has sent medical experts, including those in traditional Chinese medicine, to help SCO states fight the pandemic, Yu added.

He called on SCO member states to value this national treasure and step up cooperation to improve the application of traditional medicine in preventing and treating common, frequently occurring and refractory illnesses, as well as emerging infectious diseases.

(Xinhua)08:57, August 03, 2020

Chinese civil affairs departments nationwide helped 5,226 stranded individuals return home in the first half of 2020, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Meanwhile, assistance was provided on around 288,000 occasions between January and June amid a national campaign aimed to help the homeless and individuals with no means of supporting themselves, the ministry said.

Moreover, the country has offered financial support to people in need. By the end of June, China had provided 14.62 billion yuan (about 2.09 billion U.S. dollars) in price subsidies to support people in poverty.

In the first half of the year, a total of 3.396 million people were newly identified as people living on subsistence allowances or in extreme difficulty, and have benefited from the allowance scheme.

From March to June, the allowances were increased, and orphans and unattended children were included in the allowance scheme for the first time, the ministry noted.

(Xinhua)09:00, August 03, 2020

Qiu Hong (2nd L), deputy head of the Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and the HKSAR governments Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Tsang Kwok-wai (1st L) and Secretary for Food and Health Chan Siu-chee (1st R) welcome virus testing professionals from the Chinese mainland in Hong Kong, south China, Aug. 2, 2020. Seven virus testing professionals from the Chinese mainland arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday afternoon as the first batch of mainland supportive teams to help contain a worsening spread of COVID-19 in Hong Kong. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

Seven virus testing professionals from the Chinese mainland arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday afternoon as the first batch of mainland supportive teams to help contain a worsening spread of COVID-19 in Hong Kong.

The medical professionals, who will help with laboratory work here, are members of a 60-strong nucleic acid testing team established recently at the request of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government for assistance in the battle against the pandemic.

They came at a time of surging COVID-19 infections in Hong Kong, where medical resources were stretched to the limit and the virus testing capacity was not enough.

Members of the team were selected from over 20 public hospitals in southern Guangdong Province. The head of the team used to lead the provinces supportive group to Wuhan, the capital of central Hubei Province.

Guo Penghao, leader of the seven-member advance team, said they will start working with relevant departments here and familiarizing themselves with testing facilities and procedures in preparation for the following large-scale nucleic acid testing.

The virus testing team and Hong Kong residents will win the battle against COVID-19, Guo said. We are full of confidence.

When meeting with the team members, two officials of the HKSAR government, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Tsang Kwok-wai and Secretary for Food and Health Chan Siu-chee, expressed gratitude for the assistance of the central government, and said the HKSAR government hoped the outbreak will be contained as soon as possible.

Qiu Hong, deputy head of the Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government in the HKSAR, said the central government pays high attention to the safety and health of Hong Kong residents and, in addition to the supportive teams, it will also provide Hong Kong with free anti-epidemic equipment.

No matter what difficulties Hong Kong encounters, the central government and the people of the motherland will always be Hong Kongs strongest backing, she said.

The National Health Commission on Saturday promised continued efforts to mobilize medical resources from the mainland and send more support at any time based on the requirements of the HKSAR to combat COVID-19.

The commission has also set up a panel of six experts from Wuhan to provide technical support in transforming Hong Kongs AsiaWorld-Expo into a makeshift hospital.

(Xinhua)09:03, August 03, 2020

East Chinas Fujian Province on Sunday launched a Grade III emergency response to Typhoon Hagupit, the fourth of this year.

Authorities in Fujian have asked staff of coastal fisheries in the city of Ningde to be evacuated ashore prior to 8 a.m. Monday.

Coastal tourist spots in Ningde were required to be closed and construction sites were asked to suspend operations.

The center of Hagupit was spotted at waters 540 km southeast of Cangnan County, east Chinas Zhejiang Province, at 11 p.m. Sunday, packing winds of up to 83 kph, according to the National Meteorological Center.

It is moving northwest at a speed of 20 kph and will continue to gain strength, according to the center. The typhoon is forecast to make landfall in the coastal area between Zhejiang and Fujian Monday night.

(Xinhua)09:21, August 03, 2020

Despite the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic, China is slated to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, known as Xiaokang in Chinese, this year.

With 2020 as the target year of completion, the goals of the society are to eradicate extreme poverty and double gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita income from 2010.

The following facts and figures show Chinas decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects is in the offing:

— The countrys GDP exceeded 99 trillion yuan (about 14.18 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2019, more than double from over 41 trillion yuan in 2010, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

— The countrys per capita disposable income climbed to 30,733 yuan in 2019, representing an average annual increase of 9.2 percent from 2000. The per capita disposable income in comparable prices expanded 96.6 percent in the 2011-2019 period, with the income-doubling plan nearing completion.

— Residents consumption level improved, with the annual per capita consumer spending rising to 21,559 yuan last year, up 78.9 percent from 2012. It also marked an average annual growth of 8.7 percent for the 2012-2019 period.

The per capita urban consumption surged 64 percent from 2012 to 28,063 yuan in 2019, while per capita rural consumption nearly doubled from 2012 to 13,328 yuan last year.

— The countrys Engels coefficient, which measures food expenditures as a proportion of total household spending, dropped to 28.2 percent in 2019, down 14 percentage points from 2000. The measurement for urban people stood at 27.6 percent, down 11 percentage points from 2000, while the figure for rural residents was 30 percent, a decline of 18.3 percentage points.

— Per capita living space of urban residents reached 39.8 square meters last year, up 62.1 percent from 2002, while that for rural residents climbed 97.2 percent from 2000 to 48.9 square meters last year.

— A total of 93.48 million rural residents shook off poverty from 2013 to 2019, with 13.35 million rural people being lifted out of poverty each year on an average.

The poverty headcount ratio in rural regions dropped from 10.2 percent at the end of 2012 to 0.6 percent at the end of 2019.

— The average life expectancy of the Chinese rose from 74.8 years in 2010 to 77.3 years in 2019.