Beijing has a sufficient supply of daily necessities and the trade order remains normal amid latest COVID-19 cases in the city, an official said at a regular press briefing on Sunday.

Zhao Weidong, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, said that the market supply and logistics distribution of daily necessities in Beijing are stable and in good order amid efforts to stabilize supply and prices.

The comment came as the capital city is facing surging COVID-19 cases, prompting more mass testing requirements and concerns of stricter anti-epidemic measures, which led many residents to stock up food and other daily necessities.

Beijing reported 21 positive COVID-19 infections from 4 pm on Saturday to 4 pm on Sunday, including 16 confirmed cases and five silent carriers across five districts. 

A total of 41 positive COVID-19 infections have been reported in Beijing since Friday.

At the press briefing on Sunday, Zhao noted that the commerce bureau has actively coordinated with the wholesale market to increase supplies. The supply of vegetables on the market reached 22,700 tons on Sunday, an increase of 9.1 percent from Saturday, while the supply of pork and eggs remained above 560 tons and 410 tons respectively – both at normal levels. The daily supply of grain and oil has remained stable at over 6,000 tons.

The stocks in supermarkets and community grocery stores are also sufficient and the transportation of necessities has been smooth with an average of 6,800 freight vehicles transporting daily necessities passing through Beijing’s toll stations per day, an increase of 13.4 percent compared with the previous week.

In response to growing demand from sealed-off residential compounds, Zhao said, a timely replenishment of the necessities will be in place.

Going forward, the city will strengthen the monitoring of key daily necessity producers and guide wholesale markets and e-commerce retail platforms to diversify and increase their sources of supplies.

To ensure sufficient market supply and stable prices, Beijing will continue to subsidize the fees of vegetables and five kinds of domestic fruits traded in wholesale markets so as to reduce the costs of business operators and transport drivers.


Global Times