Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for legal efforts to be made in support of prevention and control work amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the statement when presiding over the third meeting of the Commission for Overall Law-based Governance of the CPC Central Committee. Xi is the head of the commission.
The president said people's safety and health should always be put in the first place and efforts in aspects of legislation, law enforcement, justice and law compliance should be made to better facilitate the epidemic prevention and control.
Xi said the current prevention and control work is at a critical moment and stressed the utmost importance of scientific and orderly work based on law.
The Chinese president spoke of the need to improve legislation on epidemic prevention and control, improve support system and punishment procedures. He further stressed the importance of strictly implementing laws and regulations on epidemic prevention and control and emergency response, strengthening risk assessment, making prudent decisions and taking strict measures in accordance with the law.
Laws on prevention and control of infectious diseases, wildlife protection and animal quarantine, as well as the regulations on public health emergency response, must be strictly enforced, Xi said.
Moreover, Xi called for strengthening public security management and market supervision, including crackdown on illegal and violent acts against medical personnel and investigation and punishment of illegal acts, such as driving up prices of epidemic prevention supplies and products related to people's livelihood.
Xi said the authorities must ensure that all the donated items are used for epidemic prevention and control in a timely manner. He also emphasized the importance of timely and accurate release of the epidemic information in accordance with the law.
He also required strengthening public legal education and legal services during prevention and control.
Documents including the commission's guidelines on practicing law-based infection prevention and control of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus were adopted at the meeting.