Hubei endeavors to ensure supply of daily necessities

By Tian Doudou, People’s Daily

Hubei will always put people’s lives and health in the first place and ensure all-out efforts to guarantee the supply of daily necessities during the lockdown of its cities, said Ying Yong, secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at a recent meeting on the province’s epidemic prevention and control.

The meeting, convened by the Hubei Provincial Committee of the CPC and the provincial epidemic control command center on Feb. 23, made plans to further ensure the basic supplies of the province’s cities during the epidemic.

Unimpeded logistics leads to stable supply of materials and stable supply of materials makes people feel assured, which finally results in general stability, said Ying at the meeting.

With strong assistance from across the country, Hubei has established a mechanism of joint supply with 8 other provinces and municipalities, and built 5 inter-provincial transfer stations for the transportation of materials.

Cargos coming from across the country are distributed by Wuhan’s logistics enterprises after arriving in the city, and there is no human contact in the unloading process, so quarantine for the drivers and vehicles from outside the city for is uncalled-for, which ensures the smooth operation of the inter-provincial green channel.

At present, around 3,500 large- and medium-sized chain markets are in operation in the province, and the large-scale commercial and trading enterprises in Wuhan have resorted to a new group-buying model under which commodities are delivered to communities after bulk orders are placed online by residents.

Besides, e-commerce platforms and logistics companies such as Alibaba, JD Logistics, Meituan and SF Holding are also moving into high gear to guarantee the supply of daily necessities for the residents.

“My job today is to help residents buy medicines, and yesterday I was delivering vegetables,” said Chen Hao, an official with the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission of Hubei province who come to Yuexiu residential community in Jang’an district, Wuhan to serve the people from Feb. 24, as residents have been required to stay at home to contain further spread of the virus.

“Foodstuff is all-important to the people. I must guarantee the supply of their everyday items or else closed-off management will encounter problems. I’m a cadre, and I must serve the people well,” Chen said.

After communities in Wuhan adopted closed-off management, most residents bought vegetables online, and the Hubei Provincial Committee of the CPC and Wuhan Municipal Committee of the CPC have taken multiple measures to tackle the problems encountered by the citizens, such as stale vegetables and insufficient varieties, Chen introduced.

Wuhan Municipal Commerce Bureau launched a fourth edition of guidance for residents to purchase vegetables online on Feb. 24, adding another 10 platforms on its previous 23-supplier list, including Suning Xiaodian, the convenience store unit of Chinese retailer Suning.com, and the online food material supplier Liang Zhi Long.

The bureau also provided detailed introductions to the purchasing process and delivery timetables of each of the platforms, as well as brief introductions to the features of them. For instance, some of the platforms boast fresh, cheap and disinfected products as well as non-contact delivery; some take pride in their cost-efficiency products that are transported directly from the production bases and manufacturers; and some adopt no minimum consumption policy and promise to delivery all orders regardless of the price.

Community workers and volunteers from Tangcai community, Jianghan district, Wuhan loaded a bus with 11-product packages, Feb. 24, 2020. In order to win the battle against the epidemic, all communities in Wuhan are under closed-off management. Li Changlin/ People's Daily Online