China's food supply will remain stable
during Spring Festival, the most important traditional holiday for
Chinese people, despite challenges caused by COVID-19 risks, the top
food reserve authority said on Thursday. Qin
Yuyun, chief of grain reserves at the National Food and Strategic
Reserves Administration, said domestic COVID-19 epidemic prevention and
control is at a critical stage, and Spring Festival will see consumption
of a range of foods boom. "We are capable and confident in ensuring an adequate supply and a stable domestic market," he said. Qin
said the administration will urge its branches across China to guide
food reserve enterprises to carry out effective epidemic prevention and
control measures during grain acquisition and help the enterprises solve
possible difficulties, such as transporting grains, to ensure COVID-19
outbreaks will not impede acquisition of grains harvested in the fall. The
administration will closely monitor food markets and price fluctuations
so that it can respond promptly to any problems. It will also urge
local authorities to improve emergency plans to ensure the stable supply
of food during the holiday, he said. Food enterprises will be
encouraged to diversify products they sell to meet consumer demand. The administration will make better use of reserve grains, including rice and wheat, in case of market shortages, Qin said. Meanwhile,
the administration will work with related departments to intensify
supervision and inspection of the processing, distribution and sales of
grains and edible oils, and severely punish violations such as hoarding
food for illegal profit to ensure market stability, Qin said. An
effective emergency system for the nation's food supply has been well
established, and major enterprises are capable of processing food with
high efficiency, which can ensure the emergency supply of food, he said. China
has intensified COVID-19 prevention and control with Thursday's arrival
of the 40-day peak travel season surrounding the Spring Festival
holiday. Normally, hundreds of millions of trips are made during the
period, but the number is expected to be considerably reduced this year
due to government measures designed to restrict mass movement of people
to minimize risks of COVID-19 infection. They include encouraging
migrant workers to spend Spring Festival in the cities where they work. Authorities
should also ensure the supply of key commodities and public services to
ensure people's livelihoods are not affected during the holiday, the
State Council, China's Cabinet, said in a circular released on Monday.
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