China and US will work to reduce destabilizing factors in bilateral trade

20:42, April 23, 2020

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  MOC stresses Sino-US efforts to ease friction, fulfill trade agreement

  The national flags of China and the United States. economic and trade agreement to enhance cooperation and remove destabilizing factors to boost bilateral business ties, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. states generate substantial economic value from service exports, from licensing royalti

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  Free trade zones buoy work restarts of firms

  Dongjiang Port in the Tianjin Free Trade Zone. (Photo: Xinhua)Targeted policies enacted by FTZs in the nation yield tangible resultsKey free trade zones in China have played a key role in furthering production restarts of companies since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and helped stabilize foreign trade and investment, officials said on Tuesday.This year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of FTZs in Guangdong province, Tianjin and Fujian province. Five years on, the FTZs have made several significant advances, the officials said.Tang Wenhong, director-general of the department of pilot free trade zones and free trade ports at the Ministry of Commerce, said Chinas FTZs have been working on COVID-19 prevention and control efforts, while promoting economic and social development.The FTZs have also focused on assisting enterprises in work and production restarts. These measures include helping employees return to work, cutting taxes and fees and ensuring medical supplies, said Tang.The zones in Guangdong province, Tianjin, and Fujian province have carried out targeted policies and achieved positive progress in facilitating the companies orderly production restarts, he said.Zhang Zhongdong, deputy director of Tianjin FTZs administration office, said a core task for the FTZs under institutional innovation was to promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.A series of measures have been implemented and achieved tangible results. According to Zhang, the zone has committed to helping companies in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province with their overseas expansion and boost high-quality economic growth in the region.Zheng Jianrong, director of the Guangdong FTZs administration office, said the Guangdong pilot FTZ has promoted interconnection with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and is building an international trade hub that can coordinate with international and domestic markets.According to Zheng, ...

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  Pack to work for China's foodies

  Bringing in bento boxes is now a trend for people, who have returned to work after the COVID-19 outbreak. These self-made meals please the eye and the taste buds, as creative cooks use ingredients in imaginative ways. (Photo: China Daily)As workers across the country return to their offices, lunchtime tastes have changed as home-cooked meals are the flavor of the month, Xu Lin reports.Since returning to work on March 2, Zhang Yuanqing from Shanghai has taken a homemade lunch with her to the office.Carried in a delicate bento box, she takes a pretty photo of it every day to post on her social media as a record of daily life, something which brings her a sense of accomplishment.People all over China have gradually returned to the workplace after a long period of home confinement due to the outbreak of COVID-19.Although people can, for the most part, once again dine at restaurants and order food delivery like they did before the pandemic cut a swathe through daily life, some people, like 28-year-old Zhang, choose to make their own lunch-a practice which started as a safety measure, but has now become a habit.As many people were forced to prepare their own food during self-isolation at home, they spent time brushing up their cooking skills by finding recipes and following demonstration videos online.Statistics from e-commerce platform Suning show that its sales of electrical bento boxes increased by a factor of 20 between Feb 9 and March 5, compared with the same period last year. These boxes can heat the food when needed, thus saving people from having to queue up to use the office microwave when they want to eat.From the 1960s to the 80s, it was not uncommon for Chinese people to carry an aluminum lunch box with a homemade meal to work or school. All the boxes would be heated up together in a large food steamer before the lunch break.However, as Chinas economy has developed, on-site canteens, more disposable income and a greater choice of restaurants and del...