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On August 5th, a cooperation agreement was signed by the administrative committee of Anhui Free Trade Pilot Zone Wuhu Area and  Wuhu Fuchun Dyeing and Weaving Co., LTD. Investment Cooperation and the ceremony was held at the comprehensive center of Free Trade Zone Wuhu Area. Zhang Feng, chairman of Wuhu Municipal Committee of CPPCC and He Peifu, president of Wuhu Fuchun Dyeing and Weaving Co., LTD attended the signing ceremony.

According to the agreement, Wuhu Fuchun Dyeing and Weaving Co., Ltd. will use the relevant import management policies of Wuhu Comprehensive Bonded Zone to build an international advanced intelligent precision spinning production line and realize the high integration of industrialization and information. After completion of the project, it is expected to create about 600 new jobs, with an annual output of about 86,000 tons of cotton yarns and an output value of about 2.8 billion yuan.

Since the beginning of this year, according to the “double recruitment and double introduction” work deployment conducted by Wuhu Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, the administrative committee of Anhui Free Trade Pilot Zone Wuhu Area cooperated closely with Jiujiang District Government and remarkable achievements have been made in investment promotion. As of July 31, 157 investment projects have been completed in the area, with a total amount of 178.811 billion yuan. Focusing on Wuhu Comprehensive Bonded Zone, there are 35 projects with fixed asset investment of about 4 billion yuan and annual import and export value of about 500 million US dollars.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

China urged to fill loopholes in hospitals, airports

As 31 provincial-level regions across China on Monday warned residents against unnecessary travel in light of the outbreaks fueled by the rampaging Delta variant, Chinese officials and health experts stressed the strong infectivity and transmissibility of the mutated variant and urged the country to learn lessons from the latest outbreaks to fill the loopholes of anti-epidemic work – especially in hospitals and airports where infection risks are high.

The new surge of the outbreak triggered by the Delta variant first occurred in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province, and it has since spread to 18 provinces and cities.

Residential communities – where more than 10,000 residents live – around the Guoxing community in Beijing’s Haidian district have been locked down with public places in the area being closed. Nucleic acid testing has also kicked off and 4,500 samples have been collected, Beijing health officials said at a press conference on Monday. The capital city has reported several local confirmed cases associated with infected people returning from outside.

Wuhan, capital of Central China’s Hubei Province, also reported seven local COVID-19 cases on Monday. The city hadn’t reported any local infections since June 2020.

The outbreak, which is rapidly sweeping through the nation, has exposed loopholes in Chinese cities’ daily anti-epidemic work, which sounded an alarm to the country. Chinese experts said it showed staff members at airports and designated hospitals did not conduct strict surveillance and testing of cargo and objects. They stressed that China must fix the loopholes; otherwise the country would be hit by more new mutations, as long as the overseas epidemic is not over.

Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital, said airports or ports should increase the frequency of daily testing and strengthen their scrutiny of people whose work involves close connections with imported cases.

A flight from Russia was identified as the source of the infections in Nanjing. Airport cleaning staff members were infected when cleaning the cabin.

Controlling the infection source and cutting off the infection channel are the two main means to prevent and control any epidemic resurgence in China. If the people involved fail to do a good job in daily health monitoring and protection, they will become infection sources, Wang said.

Echoing Wang, Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, said that “the outbreak in Nanjing showed that the local authorities failed to properly handle the feces of coronavirus-infected patients or trash left on planes that carried confirmed cases. This reflected significant loopholes in the management of those places.”

Other health experts also noted that Nanjing has been comparatively slow in taking action and epidemiological investigations, but fortunately the city is still in the early stage of the outbreak.

As for the infection chain in Zhengzhou, Wang Songqiang, director of the Zhengzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press conference on Saturday that the majority of the infections were related to the Sixth People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou, a designated hospital for imported COVID-19 infections. The infections involve cleaning workers, medical staffers and in-patients. It exposed the loopholes of hospitals in the implementation of infection control.

Zhengzhou reported 13 confirmed cases and 50 asymptomatic carriers as of 6 pm on Monday. The first two patients were found to be related to the patient who returned from Myanmar and they were all infected with the Delta variant, authorities from Zhengzhou said at Monday’s press conference.

In face of the Delta variant, in addition to strict epidemic control measures, experts also pointed out that faster mass vaccination is another promising move, not only in China but also in the US.

In China, the Delta variant was first identified in southern Guangdong in June, and also in Southwest China’s Yunnan. However, the experiences of dealing with the local outbreaks showed that vaccinated individuals will show comparatively milder symptoms and have a lower chance of deterioration.

Advancing mass vaccinations to reach herd immunity is also a promising method in China as Delta variant cases surge, given the vaccination rate is still not enough high.

China’s top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said during a speech in Guangzhou on Saturday that China needs to vaccinate about 83 percent of its population to achieve herd immunity. He also revealed that all the 13 severe cases infected with the Delta variant in Guangzhou COVID-19 outbreak in May did not get inoculated.

According to Wuhu COVID-19 Prevention and Control Headquarters, a total of 4,014,807 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Wuhu as of August 1^st. Among them, 2,217,762 people have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, which accounts for 74.95% of the target number; 1,447,794 people have finished the second shot, accounting for 49.61%; 349,251 people have completed the third jab. Those who have finished all injections of COVID-19 vaccines account for 36.52 percent of the target number. 84,182 minors aged between 15 and 17 years old have been vaccinated in the city, accounting for 85.61% of the total number in the same age group.

Counties and districts in the city publish the information of vaccination sites via WeChat official accounts every day, allowing people to be vaccinated to choose based on their needs. On August 2^nd, the city starts vaccinating teenagers aged 12-14 in the downtown area against COVID-19, according to the reporter. For those aged 12–14 who have no contraindications, their parents need to sign Informed Consent for COVID-19 Vaccination and bring their ID cards, household registration booklets to register personal information. It is noticed that the city has arranged centralized vaccination for adolescents aged between 15 and 17 years old. For example, the school-age students of Foreign Language School Attached to Anhui Normal University get vaccinated at the appointed time at Grand Plaza, which makes the vaccination more orderly and efficient.

Wuhu COVID-19 Prevention and Control Headquarters once again reminded the public that vaccination is the most economical and effective measure to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19. For those who have not been vaccinated, please complete the injection as soon as possible according to the arrangement, making joint efforts to protect all people in the city from being infected. In addition, it is necessary to monitor personal health conditions, be aware of personal protection, and keep “three essentials for epidemic prevention” in mind: wearing masks, practicing social distancing and maintaining personal hygiene. In case you have fever, cough, diarrhea, fatigue, reduced sense of taste and smell, or any other abnormal symptoms, you should wear disposable surgical masks or respirators of grade KN95/N95 or above, and go to the nearest fever clinic in time. With the strict implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, anyone entering indoor public places must make an appointment in a staggered manner, have their temperature checked, present a green QR code, wear a mask and stand behind the one-meter line. Please avoid gatherings or crowds, and stay far from crowded venues, especially poorly ventilated places.

Translated by Wang Mengxiao from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

Team China started powerfully at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Chinese athletes have secured eleven medals in the first two days of the Tokyo Olympics, including six gold medals, putting China at the top of the medal table and the gold count at the end of Day Two. Four of the six gold medals of Chinese team so far were won by female athletes.

Housing the smallest number of spectators for an Olympics, Tokyo 2020 has been dubbed one of the coldest Olympics ever. However, Chinese fans are making it the hottest topic on the Chinese internet, and cheering for China’s medal success is just a small part of it as netizens now appreciate more the human touch side of the Olympic Games.

Continuing the good momentum of the first day when team China won three gold medals, on Sunday afternoon, the Chinese diving “dream team” delivered like they always do. Veterans Shi Tingmao and Wang Han claimed a gold medal in the 3 meter spring board, a fifth consecutive Olympic title for China. The duo led the race by a huge margin from the very start.

The fifth gold soon followed as weightlifter Li Fabin set a new Olympic record on his way to clinching gold in the weightlifting men’s 61 kilogram. On his second attempt, his clean and jerk lift of 172kilogram – also an Olympic record – saw the 28-year-old standing with the bar above his head while standing on one leg.

Chen Lijun retained the men’s 67 kilogram total gold medal with 332 kilograms, registering the sixth gold for Team China on Sunday evening.

Team China made a good start on the first day of the competition. 21-year-old shooter Yang Qian on Saturday morning claimed the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s 10 meter air rifle with a record-breaking 251.8 points. Yang won over the Chinese public with her cuteness when she showed off her delicate pink finger nails and made a giant heart sign with her arms on the podium.

Later on Saturday afternoon, Hou Zhihui won a gold medal in the women’s 49 kilogram-class weightlifting, winning the second gold for the Chinese delegation. Hou broke three Olympic records in the final, making up for missing the Rio Olympics at the last minute five years ago.

Also on the first day, épée fencer Sun Yiwen edged out world No. 1 Ana Maria Popescu of Romania in a nail-biter to win a third gold for Team China.

There are some things that are much more important than winning an Olympic medal, Chinese netizens have been telling their athletes in the past few days.

In the same event in which Yang Qian won the first gold medal for Team China, Yang’s teammate, shooter Wang Luyao, went out in the preliminaries. After the contest, Wang posted a selfie on China’s Twitter-like social platform Sina Weibo and said that she had “chickened out.”

Wang was then fiercely attacked by some netizens, who said that “this is not a reasonable attitude to take when you lose.” Some even said that Wang “does not deserve to represent her country.” Wang later deleted the post.

Responding to extreme emotional outbursts of netizens, more of the public immediately voiced strong support for Wang. They flooded Wang’s Sina Weibo account to express their love and backing for her, while condemning online violence. The hashtag “Wang Luyao is still an amazing girl” quickly rose to the top of Sina Weibo’s trending list and remained there for a long time.

A total of 65 Weibo accounts have been muted from 90 to 180 days for maliciously attacking Olympic athletes as of Sunday.

Several Chinese media outlets also published articles expressing their support for Wang. “Every Chinese athlete deserves our pride,” wrote the Beijing Evening News.

As China’s national strength continues to grow, the country has long passed the era where the attitude of “Only the championship counts” prevailed. Now people appreciate more the spirit of participation, fight till the end and perform your best.

Both China’s athletes and spectators have been gaining a greater appreciation for what the Olympics embodies – the Olympic spirit, the intergenerational legacy of athletes, the toughness of veterans and the sharpness of newcomers, and even the stories behind the Games’ losers.

On Sunday afternoon, China’s women’s volleyball team, a traditional favorite to win medal, suffered a crushing 0-3 loss to Turkey in its Olympic debut match. On the Chinese women’s volleyball team’s social media, while some fans complained about their performance, many expressed their belief in the athletes and their concerns over the injury suffered by main player Zhu Ting in their messages.

Many fans of women’s volleyball also recalled the Rio Olympics five years ago, when the Chinese women’s volleyball team won two and lost three matches in the group stage in a shock fourth group result, but eventually went on to win the title in a legendary finale. “I hope the girls can bounce back again,” wrote one netizen on Sina Weibo, “but even if they don’t, I’ll still be proud.”

Chinese viewers are paying more attention to the stories behind the athletes rather than just the wins and losses.

Netizens lauded Jiang Ranxin and Sheng Lihao, the two athletes who were born after year 2000 and won medals in shooting events, as “the hope of the future.” Netizens also marveled at the mentality of 36-year-old Pang Wei, who is competing in the Olympics for the fourth time, and 30-year-old Wang Han, who is making her Olympic debut. Netizens have also been following Olympic stories from distant lands – such as the 41-year-old Iranian night nurse who won a gold medal.

Shadow of COVID-19

The host city of Tokyo reported 1,763 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as Japan struggles to contain a new wave of infections amid the Olympics, marking the sixth straight day of over 1,000 cases. Daily new infections in the capital averaged 1,453.6 in the week to Sunday, compared with 1,068.3 the previous week.

On Sunday, the first COVID-19 infection of an Olympics athlete was confirmed, local media outlet Kyodo News reported on Sunday afternoon. Dutch rower Finn Florijn tested positive for COVID-19 after competing on Friday, but rowing events on Sunday were held as scheduled.

The committee reported a total of 10 new infections related to the Olympics on Sunday, including another athlete from overseas, bringing the total since the beginning of this month to 132.

The Global Times reporter noted in the Olympic venues in the mix zone that the Organizing Committee has been fairly strict in managing epidemic prevention among athletes and media personnel during and after events. For example, the distance between each press member is set at 1 meter, and distance between players is set at 2 meters. There is also a no standing zone to help maintain distance between press members and competitors.

However, the GT reporter also noted that from time to time, some press members ignored these measures, such as standards of mask wearing or social distance requirements. Previous media reports have also pointed out the possibility of media personnel coming into contact with Tokyo citizens.

Based on the current lax manner in the way some Olympic event personnel and venues are implementing epidemic prevention measures, there may be an increase in Olympic-related cases in the future, observers noted. If it leads to more athletes becoming infected, more game rescheduling may also be possible.

Photo taken on July 25, 2021 shows tourists walk on East Nanjing Road in Shanghai, east China as Typhoon In-Fa lashes the city. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Typhoon In-Fa made landfall in east China’s Zhejiang Province at noon on Sunday, packing winds of up to 38 meters per second at its center, according to the provincial flood control headquarters.

The typhoon — the sixth of this year — hit land in Putuo District, Zhoushan City, at approximately 12:30 p.m., the headquarters said.

Weather authorities have forecast the typhoon will make a second landfall in coastal areas between Zhejiang’s Jiaxing City and Jiangsu Province’s Qidong City on Sunday night.

It is expected to linger in east China after its second landfall and bring continued strong rainstorms to the Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, and Shanghai.

The typhoon started to wreak havoc in Zhejiang on Saturday, bringing heavy downpours, strong gales and floods. More than 6 km of roads in Zhoushan have been inundated by seawater.

The Zhejiang provincial flood control headquarters upgraded its emergency response for Typhoon In-Fa to the highest level, Level I, at Saturday noon. As of Sunday noon, about 17,000 fishing vessels had returned to ports for shelter, and over 1.5 million people across the province had been evacuated to safe places.

Zhejiang has opened more than 12,000 temporary shelter facilities to the public.

In the neighboring megacity of Shanghai, Typhoon In-Fa had felled over 1,000 trees and caused waterlogging in several places as of Sunday noon.

More than 2,000 rescue teams in the city are on stand-by.

The Shanghai metro at Sunday noon announced the suspension of services on several lines. As of 1:30 p.m. Sunday, a total of five metro lines, Line 3, Line 5, Line 16, Line 17, the Pujiang Line, and Shanghai’s Maglev Line, suspended operations.

All inbound and outbound flights at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport were canceled on Sunday.

All inbound high-speed trains for Shanghai’s railway stations will be canceled starting from 7 p.m. Sunday, according to railway authorities.

As of 2 p.m. Sunday, nearly 130 tourists spots in Shanghai, including the Shanghai Disney Resort, the Oriental Pearl Tower, and the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, had closed over safety concerns.

About 360,000 people in Shanghai have been evacuated, and more than 1,700 vessels have returned to ports, the municipal flood control headquarters said. 

Recently, Henan province was hit by a natural disaster of continuous heavy rainfall rarely seen in history, which caused huge losses and pulled the heart strings of people all over the country. On July 22, Chery Holding Group decided to donate 35 million yuan to Henan province.

Of the 35 million yuan donated by Chery Holding Group, 20 million was used for post-disaster relief work through Kaifeng Red Cross. A special fund of 15 million will be used for rescue and repair services of damaged vehicles for customers of various brands of Chery Holding Group.

It is understood that the brands of Chery Holding Group, such as Chery, Exeed, Jetour, Cowin Auto and Karry are devoted to cooperating with the local government in Henan on flood control and relief work.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

Carmakers are rushing to extend helping hands to residents and car owners suffering from the deluge caused by continuous heavy rainfall in Central China’s Henan province.

Donations from companies including Nio, Geely and Mercedes-Benz have totaled over 150 million yuan ($23.21 million), with the list of companies still growing.

Local companies including SAIC Maxus and Sino-foreign joint ventures including FAW-Volkswagen and Dongfeng Peugeot are not donating money but are offering rescue services to those in need.

Chinese startups Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto were the quickest to respond. The three made their announcements on Wednesday afternoon, with a combined donation of 40 million yuan.

“The heavy rainfall and its damage caused in Zhengzhou and other parts of Henan concern every one of us. We would like to send our sympathies to them,” said Nio CEO William Li.

Other Chinese companies soon followed. In the late afternoon of Wednesday, BYD, Geely and Great Wall Motors made public their donations of money and disaster relief goods including drones.

The three leading private carmakers’ combined donation totaled 70 million yuan. BYD is opening all its dealerships in Zhengzhou, capital city of Henan province, to local residents for urgency needs.

Also on Wednesday, Mercedes-Benz announced a donation of 10 million yuan to Henan. The German premium car brand said it has also coordinated vehicles in neighboring provinces and cities to offer rescue services for its dealers and car owners in Henan.

State-owned Chery Automobile announced on Thursday morning that it will donate 35 million yuan to the rainfall-affected cities in Henan province.

Local Chinese companies including Changan, SAIC Maxus as well as joint ventures including FAW-Volkswagen and Dongfeng Peugeot are offering rescue services to local residents and car owners.

But Dongfeng Peugeot’s hotline staff said it was not aware of the move and had no rescue vehicles or food when it was contacted by locals on late Wednesday.

The Sino-French joint venture soon apologized on its Sina Weibo account for not being fully prepared. It said a contingent team and four dealerships in Zhengzhou are already in place, saving 106 vehicles stranded in water by the early morning of Thursday.

“All passengers, please hold the handlebars. The train is moving.” In the spacious and comfortable carriage, Phase I of Wuhu Rail Transit Line 1 is undergoing on-line debugging. As early as June this year, Wuhu rail transit Line 1 has successfully passed the project acceptance, which is qualified for trial operation. We will strive to open this trial operation by the end of September this year, and rail transit Line 2 is scheduled to open for initial operation before the end of this year.

In the heat of the summer, rail transit builders are working overtime to clean up overpasses, entrances and elevators in the station.”We have increased our construction staff to do as much work as possible in the same amount of time.”Wang Yulin, deputy general manager and chief engineer of Yunda Company, said that all the builders have overcome many difficulties, such as high temperature, bad weather and the impact of the epidemic, and the construction period of the project is progressing smoothly. At present, rail transit line 1 has started the whole line trial run.

“To ensure the safety of the initial operation, the rail transit will go through a trial run for at least three months.” Wang Yulin said that in addition to rail transit construction, there are currently other problems of road maintenance, sewage pipe network transformation, urban construction pipeline change, greening and other projects, which caused difficulties to the public travel objectively. With the acceleration of the project, the conditions will be gradually alleviated.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

In order to help foreigners in Wuhu improve their Chinese level, better understand and adapt to Chinese society, Anhui Business College will launch a “Free Chinese Course for Foreigners in Wuhu” Program, which is sponsored by Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal Government.                  

    The Program is mainly composed of two parts: Business Chinese and Introduction to Chinese Culture. 

To enrich the program, some other exchange activities, such as Chinese Gala Show, Cultural Salons, Chinese Food DIY and Ancient Huizhou Village Touring, will also be arranged.

The on-campus learning part of the Program in Anhui Business College will not be charged. As for the off-campus activities, expenses incurred will be charged accordingly to those who participate on a voluntary basis. The Program is scheduled to start on August 2^nd, 2021, and lasts for 12 weeks, with the specific time as follows:

The Program is open to all foreigners who work or live in Wuhu with legal residence permit. The application deadline is July 25^th, 2021. Welcome to join us. Please click the following link to submit information:

https://docs.qq.com/form/page/DQ2hZYmxHb2JUVUdE?_w_tencentdocx_form=1

Contacts: Mr. Ye, Ms Li；     

Contact & Wechat Number:13515533417；18356996096

In order to help foreigners in Wuhu improve their Chinese level, better understand and adapt to Chinese society, Anhui Business College will launch a “Free Chinese Course for Foreigners in Wuhu” Program, which is sponsored by Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal Government.                  

    The Program is mainly composed of two parts: Business Chinese and Introduction to Chinese Culture. 

To enrich the program, some other exchange activities, such as Chinese Gala Show, Cultural Salons, Chinese Food DIY and Ancient Huizhou Village Touring, will also be arranged.

The on-campus learning part of the Program in Anhui Business College will not be charged. As for the off-campus activities, expenses incurred will be charged accordingly to those who participate on a voluntary basis. The Program is scheduled to start on August 2^nd, 2021, and lasts for 12 weeks, with the specific time as follows:

The Program is open to all foreigners who work or live in Wuhu with legal residence permit. The application deadline is July 25^th, 2021. Welcome to join us. Please click the following link to submit information:

https://docs.qq.com/form/page/DQ2hZYmxHb2JUVUdE?_w_tencentdocx_form=1

Contacts: Mr. Ye, Ms Li；     

Contact & Wechat Number:13515533417；18356996096