The number of daily Covid-19 cases has reached the highest level in about three months with a total of 3,424 new cases being reported on August 18, mainly due to the high number of tourists traveling between provincial areas. Cases were reported in 25 provincial-level regions. Hainan is still the province that recorded the highest number of daily cases. Since August 1, the island has reported more than 15,000 cases. So far, the province has set up 12 makeshift hospitals with more than 22,200 beds.
Local authorities and traders in Yiwu, a major manufacturing export hub in Zhejiang province, have adopted various contingency measures to secure shipments and smooth trade, even as the city battles a Covid19 outbreak. Yiwu has lifted “static management” (lockdown) in some areas, including the International Trade Market. A meeting on stabilizing foreign trade, presided over by Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, stressed the need to effectively deal with risks, and called for further efforts to improve Customs clearance and services for enterprises. From August 2 to 16, a total of 66 China-Europe freight trains were dispatched from Yiwu, a month-on-month increase of 59.4%, including 37 outbound and 29 return trips, Yiwu Customs said.
The coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province conducted mass nucleic acid testing over several days due to a Covid-19 outbreak. Multiple transmission chains are interwoven, with positive cases repeatedly detected within the community and an increasing number of infected persons coming or returning from other places in China. The virus was classified as Omicron variant BA.2.76.
Tailored, stricter epidemic control protocols are being implemented on trains to prevent the spread of Covid-19 via the railway network, the China State Railway Group said. The measures came after more than 30 passengers aboard a train from Lhasa, capital of Tibet, to Beijing on August 17 tested positive in 10 cities along the line, including two in Beijing. Services from Lhasa to Beijing have been suspended. In Hainan province all railway services have been suspended, and few trains are running in Tibet or Xinjiang, where hundreds of cases have also been reported daily.
Chinese glass manufacturers are actively preparing to increase the production of glass vials for pharmaceuticals to meet global demand, as German producers face the risk of production cuts and shutdowns due to Europe's rising energy crisis. One industry analyst said that “if there is a halt in gas supplies, glass production will very likely disappear from Germany.” Schott, one of the major manufacturers of neutral borosilicate glass used in the pharmaceutical industry accounts for about 50% of the global market share of vaccine vials. The company's largest global production site is in Mainz, Germany. China's glass producers have become a strong back-up for global vaccine vials production in recent years. According to the China Association for Vaccines, the annual output of vaccine vials in China could reach 8 billion. According to the China Daily Glass Association, the output of daily-use glass products and glass packaging containers in the first half of 2021 reached 13.7 million tons, a cumulative increase of 15.70% year-on-year. The export value of glass for daily use totaled USD3.49 billion, up 52.06%.
Several Chinese universities plan to delay the return of staff and students and postpone enrollment for the class of 2022 due to the Covid-19 epidemic and high temperatures. They are mainly located in Shaanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan provinces. The persistent high temperatures affecting large areas of China since June 13 this year are the severest and longest in history since 1961, when complete meteorological observation records started to be compiled.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times and South China Morning Post.
