Chinese President Xi Jinping Sunday urged authorities at all levels to fully implement all the prevention work and turn the pressure into impetus when realizing orderly resumption of business operations.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks when attending a meeting in Beijing to advance the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic and economic and social development.

Calling the COVID-19 outbreak a major public health emergency with the fastest spread, widest infection and hardest prevention, Xi said the incident also testifies China's governance and administration abilities.

He hailed the timely and effective response carried out by the Chinese government, saying the sound momentum of the prevention work demonstrates the strengths of China's system.

Orderly resumption of business operation

The Chinese president reiterated the impact of the epidemic will only be temporary and controllable, calling on authorities at all levels to try their best to mitigate the impact and achieve the set goals in social and economic sectors through hard work.

He stressed the need to resume production and normal life in an orderly way and called for all regions to resume production to different degrees based on the levels of their infection risks.

According to Xi, the country will maintain prudent monetary policy and new policies will be rolled out to help small and medium-sized enterprises.

Meanwhile, Xi reiterated China's determination to finish its poverty alleviation tasks and safeguard people's livelihoods.

Regarding foreign trade and investment, he pledged to continue optimizing China's business environment so as to enhance investor confidence for long-term foreign investment.

Read more:

Xi Jinping holds unprecedented top-down online meeting over coronavirus control

Crucial stage

Meanwhile, the president also called for all-out efforts in containing the epidemic. Stating the prevention work is at a crucial stage, Xi urged authorities at all levels to fully implement all the prevention work and to turn the pressure into impetus.

Xi said containment in communities and treatment of patients are key to curbing the spread of the epidemic while Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan City remain the central area in this battle. He called for greater efforts to cut off the infection source as much as possible.

Xi highlighted the importance of frontline medics, saying they must have adequate protection and ample supply of medical goods and daily staff.

He also called for R&D support for reagents, drugs, and vaccines and accelerating the development of biomedicine, medical equipment so as to improve the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment.

The president promised to continue maintaining close contact and information exchanges with the World Health Organization and other countries and to strengthen international cooperation on developing vaccines.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who presided over the meeting, echoed Xi's words, urging authorities at all levels to overcome all the difficulties and keep a good balance between prevention work and meeting economic and social development goals.

(With input from Xinhua)