All COVID-19 High-Risk Areas Lifted, Large Corporations Resume Operations
Tourism and Aviation Services Restart... Xi'an's Growth Target for This Year 'Above 6%'
[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] As all high-risk COVID-19 areas in Xi'an, Shanxi Province, China have been lifted, local business activities are returning to normal. Xi'an, Shanxi Province, was fully locked down on December 22 last year. Xi'an is a city where about 200 Korean companies, including Samsung Electronics, have established operations.
According to Chinese media such as the official Xinhua News Agency on the 24th, Shanxi Province lifted the lockdown on three high-risk COVID-19 areas on the 23rd and lowered the risk level in 62 out of 64 medium-risk areas.
As of the 18th, Xi'an reported zero new COVID-19 cases. This is 40 days since the first confirmed case on December 9 last year. In Shanxi Province, a total of 2,080 people were confirmed positive: 2,053 in Xi'an, 13 in Xianyang, 13 in Yan'an, and 1 in Weinan. Among them, 1,717 have recovered, and 363 are currently receiving hospital treatment.
Global Times reported that with the lifting of all high-risk areas in Xi'an and Xianyang, major industrial cities in Shanxi Province, the local economy is normalizing. Citing a statement from the Shanxi Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology the previous day, the media reported that 779 companies in Xi'an and Xianyang, which had been operating abnormally due to COVID-19, have resumed operations. This accounts for 47.1% of all companies, of which 60.3% are designated large-scale enterprises, Global Times added. It also noted that as of the previous day, BYD's automobile production resumption rate reached 100%, and Shanxi Automobile Group's resumption rate was 80%.
With all high-risk areas lifted, the Shanxi provincial government announced plans to normalize the economy. First, major tourist sites will reopen, but visitor numbers will be limited to 75% of capacity. Hotels will only accept guests with a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 48 hours. Air routes will also reopen. China Eastern Airlines announced the resumption of flights to 10 cities including Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Dalian, and Shenyang, and plans to add routes depending on the COVID-19 situation.
Shanxi Province has set this year's economic growth target at about 6%, lower than last year's 6.5%, and reported this to the central government.
Meanwhile, with all high-risk COVID-19 areas in Shanxi Province lifted, Samsung Electronics' semiconductor plant in Xi'an is expected to operate normally. The Samsung Electronics Xi'an semiconductor plant had been operating some production lines at reduced capacity due to issues such as raw material import problems and labor shortages.
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