Maoming in Western Guangdong province has been maintaining control over the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) epidemic through various measures, while also bringing industrial and agricultural production back to normal with supportive policies, including tax incentives.

"We have emphasized 'precision' in our anti-epidemic endeavors to make sure infected cases are discovered, reported, isolated, and treated as soon as possible," said Xu Zhihui, Party chief of Maoming, during a recent interview with local media outlets.

Maoming's Party Chief Xu Zhihui takes part in an interview with local media outlets. [Photo/Nanfang Plus]

Xu noted that Maoming faced a big challenge when the epidemic broke out in Hubei province in January, as the city had a significant amount of its population returning from Hubei for the Chinese New Year.

More than two million of the city's total population of 8.2 million live elsewhere nationwide, including Hubei province. According to big data, Maoming ranked fourth in the largest number of people returning for the holiday among China's prefecture-level cities, Xu said.

The city has spared great efforts to check all the people who either rent their own apartments or stay at hotels, as well as to keep transport hubs and checkpoints in quarantine, the official said, adding that close attention was particularly paid on those who were from Hubei province, so that anyone with symptoms could be isolated and diagnosed in time.

In addition, the city has made good use of big data and modern epidemic management systems, including mobile phone applications, to make its epidemic control and prevention measures scientific, accurate, and efficient.

"The outcome has proven that our measures are effective and we will continue until we defeat this epidemic," Xu added.

To date, the city has had a total of 14 patients diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease, six of whom have been discharged after recovery.

While still making efforts to control and prevent the epidemic, Maoming has been gearing up to bring its industrial and agricultural production back to order.

"We began to study the disease's negative impact on economic development in late January soon after the epidemic outbreak and we mapped out measures in just a few days to help farmers, businesses, and key projects resume work," Xu said.

Maoming became the first city in Guangdong province to release supportive measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as micro businesses earlier this month. The city recently added 25 tax incentives to further help enterprises resume production.