The COVID-19 is a crisis, a major test, and a war, said Chinese President Xi Jinping, and also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee when joining a deliberation with deputies from Hubei Province at the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature.
This year, the “two sessions”, China’s top legislature and political advisory body, were shortened due to the novel coronavirus epidemic, so the central leadership also reduced the number of meetings with regional delegations. Nevertheless, President Xi specifically requested to join deliberation with deputies from Hubei, saying he must visit them as they were representatives of the 60 million people in the province.
Hubei and its capital city Wuhan, as the former epicenter of the epidemic, witnessed the transition from anxiety and panic to confidence and composure in epidemic response, as they are backed by the country and the 1.4 billion Chinese people.
Having gone through extraordinary adversity, deputies from Hubei province shared their experience with the general secretary.
Ying Yong, an NPC deputy and also secretary of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee, said that President Xi had urged the whole country to help Hubei during the hardest time. “The central government even managed to guarantee fish supply as we have a love for fish. Hubei and Wuhan are never alone,” he said.
“I’ve been through too much in my life, but to turn the table in such a short period of time is unimaginable,” said deputy Yu Cheng, citing a senior citizen from a community in Hubei.
Yu, who works for Wuhan Second Light Industry School, worked as a volunteer in a neighborhood to contribute to community relief effort. “What we delivered to residents were not just daily necessities, but more importantly, the love and care from the CPC Central Committee and the people of the whole country,” she said, bowing to President Xi in a gesture meant to express the gratitude of Wuhan residents.
The deputies’ remarks touched the general secretary who flew to Wuhan for inspection at a critical moment in the fight against the epidemic this March.
He once said, the heroic city of Wuhan would definitely be remembered by history. Meeting the Hubei delegation, he once again called Wuhan a heroic city and its people heroic people, extending his sincere greetings and heartfelt gratitude to CPC officials and people of all ethnic groups in the province.
The CPC Central Committee followed the situation in Hubei every day, Xi said, adding that he knew there were still 7 cases under treatment, and 297 asymptomatic cases under medical observation. No new confirmed cases outside Wuhan had been reported since March 5, he added.
Hubei people know only too well the immense difficulties they have suffered. Going through the freezing-cold winter, the province finally embraced a warm spring and regained its vitality. The vibrant Wuhan is coming back, remarked deputy Yan Zhi.
During the deliberation, Xi reiterated that despite the achievements in epidemic prevention and control, the province must remain vigilant and never slacken its efforts.
Having analyzed the situation both in and outside China, he warned the deputies that even the slightest negligence may lead to a huge disaster.
From a long-term perspective, Xi said that one urgent task for the province is coordinating epidemic prevention and control as well as economic and social development.
The president called for continuous efforts so that the hard-earned achievements in fighting COVID-19 would not be made in vain.
He also said that the measures Hubei had taken and the lessons it had learnt in this battle against the disease would be useful experience to prevent and control any potential epidemic in the future, calling them a huge contribution the province had made.
