Overseas Chinese cancelling Qingming plans to visit home

More than 10,000 overseas Chinese who can trace their roots to Jiangmen have canceled plans and trips to return home during the Qingming Festival holidays beginning on April 4 after the southern metropolis in South China's Guangdong province sent them special warm reminders and notices, informing them the special measures and regulations Guangdong has introduced to fight against the current COVID-19 pneumonia outbreak.

Xu Xiaoxiong, executive deputy mayor of Jiangmen, said his government has sent the special warm reminders and notices to more than 300 offshore overseas Chinese organizations and groups through different channels by the end of Sunday, urging them to actively cooperate with relevant government departments in the fight against the COVID-19 pneumonia and persuading them to worship their ancestors from their overseas homes.

"All the people, including overseas Chinese, who come from the countries and regions where COVID-19 hits hard, will be required to be isolated for two weeks of medical observation when they arrive in the city, and the people who come from abroad also have the obligation to cooperate with local government to fulfill the duty of epidemic prevention and control," Xu told reporters at a press conference in this Guangdong provincial capital on Monday.

As result, many overseas Chinese are reported to have canceled their plans and trips to return home, contributing to Guangdong's efforts to prevent and fight against imported infections, he added.

Meanwhile Jiangmen has opened a 24-hour hotline in Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean for foreigners and Overseas overseas Chinese to inquire about the epidemic situation in the city and the special and targeted measures and regulations Guangdong province has introduced to help fight against the deadly disease.

Jiangmen, home to more than 4 million overseas Chinese who are now living in 107 countries and regions around the world, annually welcomes a large number of them who return home to sweep tombs and worship their ancestors during the holiday period.

Guangdong, window of China's reform and opening up, has reported no new local confirmed cases since March 6.

But the province, which has a population of more than 115 million, has reported a total of 11 imported cases by the end of Monday.