Policies necessary to facilitate production

While nationwide efforts are being pooled to fight against the epidemic of the novel coronavirus, it is equally important to assess its impact on the development of China's real economy when enterprises are preparing to start production after the extended Spring Festival holiday.

The pain of the epidemic is being felt at almost every link in the chain from the shrinking of demand, tight financing, inadequate supply of raw materials because of the outbreak, the shortage of workers and the necessary epidemic prevention and control measures for employees.

The situation is complicated for both companies and local governments.

Governments at all levels must try and do all they can to make sure that people's daily necessities and government-controlled resources are distributed in a fair manner.

Central government departments such as the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and some others have set a good example by implementing policies to make sure that key enterprises have the workers they need and subsidies have been given to those enterprises that had already started to produce face masks and protective suits during Spring Festival.

The good news is that many factories manufacturing face masks, protective suits and other related products for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus are now surpassing their original production capacity by keeping machines running 24 hours a day with workers working on different shifts. East China's Shandong province, which is a major producer of protective face masks, has dispatched officials to factories to make sure that production is running at full speed.

And some enterprises have transformed their assembly lines, which were originally for the production of quilts or sheets, so they can produce the protective suits that are badly needed for doctors and nurses fighting on the front line against the virus.

Governments at all levels are also doing whatever they can to reduce the rents for small enterprises, those in the service sector in particular. At the same time, banks are lowering their interest rates for loans to small and medium-sized enterprises to try and help them survive the crisis. Such measures will certainly be a boon for many enterprises.

Last but not the least, prevention and control measures against the transmission of the virus must be adopted in a timely and efficient manner in accordance with the actual circumstances of different enterprises. Those who are suspected of having been in close contact with someone infected must be quarantined and those who have traveled on long-distance journeys must also quarantine themselves for two weeks before going back to work. These measures must be carried out to the letter lest the spread of virus interrupts production.