Employees from Hubei back to work via chartered bus

Five chartered buses carrying 209 migrant workers from cities of Yichang and Xiangyang, Central China's Hubei province, arrived in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian province on Thursday.

It marked the first batch of workers that Fuzhou has received from Hubei, the hardest-hit region in China by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The buses were organized by Fuzhou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

Data from Fuzhou human resources authority showed that around 80,000 people from Hubei province have jobs in the city, working mainly in the industries of electronics, textile and steel.

Wang Jingsheng, a senior manager from Gaoyi group, an electric equipment distributor in Fuzhou, said the company had 212 employees from Hubei province and 116 of them returned on the charted buses.

All the returnees will receive nucleic acid tests arranged by local health authorities.

Fuzhou was first city in China to roll out policy to maintain jobs and pay money for the workers from Hubei stranded at home. The city also provided subsidies of $122 each to around 10,000 workers who are not able to return timely for work, equivalent to 50 percent of the city's monthly minimum wage.

Fuzhou will continue to bring employees from Hubei province with more chartered bus and trains.

Lin Yuanjun contributed to the story.