China

BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China urged the United States to stop politicizing COVID-19 and stigmatizing China, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said Monday.

Geng made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a question regarding recent allegations from the U.S. side.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities are lifting a lockdown in most of its virus-hit Hubei province.

People who are cleared will be able to leave the province after midnight Tuesday.

The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started in late December, will remain locked down until April 8. China barred people from leaving or entering Wuhan starting Jan. 23 and expanded it to most of the province in succeeding days.

The drastic steps came as a new coronavirus began spreading to the rest of China and overseas during the Lunar New Year holiday, when many Chinese travel.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets gained Tuesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve promised support to the struggling economy as Congress delayed action on a $2 trillion coronavirus aid package.

Market benchmarks in Tokyo and South Korea rose nearly 7% while Shanghai, Hong Kong and Australian markets also gained.

Traders were encouraged by the Fed’s promise to buy as many Treasurys and other assets as needed to keep financial markets functioning.

HAIKOU, March 23. /TASS/: Starting December 1, China's Hainan will ban the production, sale and use of a wide range of disposable plastic products, according to the regional ecology department. 

"This measure applies to non-degradable plastic products," the statement reads.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese central bank official called on Sunday for stepped up global policy coordination to manage the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, and said Beijing’s recent policy measures were gaining traction while it had capacity for further action.

Chen Yulu, a deputy governor at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), also told a news conference that PBOC Governor Yi Gang had exchanged views with U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the International Monetary Fund and other agencies.

BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in battle against the common threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 180 countries and regions around the world.

The following are the latest updates on the contagious illness.

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COLOMBO -- Over 300 people were arrested in Sri Lanka for violating a countrywide curfew which was imposed on Friday evening, the police said in a statement here Sunday.

Beijing, Mar 22 (PTI) China reported its first domestic coronavirus case after a gap of three days as the country saw a surge in imported infections with 45 new cases and initiated stricter measures to avert COVID-19 to resurface and create a second wave of infections, health officials said on Sunday.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) said that 46 new confirmed cases were reported on the mainland on Saturday, including one domestic infection transmitted by imported cases in Guangzhou.

BEIJING, Mar 22 (NNN-XINHUA) – By shifting blame, bashing and smearing China, the U.S. government is setting a bad example, in the global fight against COVID-19, in an increasingly dangerous way.

It seems that the U.S. government is less concerned with focusing on domestic epidemic prevention and control, and more fond of criticising China for a variety of unfounded and absurd reasons, and trying to get a rise out of China by using racist and xenophobia words.

BEIJING, March 20 (APP): The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would go ahead despite impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, as two countries are committed to the scheduled construction plan, said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Talking to the Global Times in the Chinese capital, Qureshi said “I don’t think it’ll have an impact on the CPEC in the long run. But in the short run, yes, there could be a slight slowdown. As soon as we are over the hump of dealing with the coronavirus, I think we’ll be back on track.”

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will speed up phased, targeted tax and fee cuts for firms to support employment amid the coronavirus outbreak, the cabinet said on Friday.

The government will return more unemployment insurance premiums to job-saving firms and subsidize small firms to hire college graduates with employment contracts longer than a year, the cabinet said in a statement.