China will consider postponing the annual meeting of its national parliament scheduled in early March at a meeting on Feb. 24, official media reported Monday, as the new coronavirus has infected an additional 2,048 people and killed 105 more people on the mainland.
In order to prioritize the prevention and control of the epidemic, the National People's Congress Standing Committee chairpersons' meeting "considered it necessary to postpone" the 13th session of the congress, Zang Tiewei, a spokesperson for the committee, told Xinhua News Agency in an interview.
Every year, the congress takes place for around 10 days from March 5 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where around 3,000 delegates gather from across the nation to discuss and endorse key policies for the coming year.
Also Monday, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, discussed postponing its meeting that would normally be held alongside the parliament's annual session, state-run media reported.
A postponement of the parliamentary session would make it more difficult for President Xi Jinping's government to swiftly implement measures to shore up the country's lackluster economy and could push back planned state visits such as one to Japan in the spring, some foreign affairs experts say.
There was a growing concern within the ruling Communist Party and the government that a gathering of officials in Beijing from all across China would increase the risk of infection, sources close to the matter said earlier.
The congress's Standing Committee at a session that opens on Feb. 24 will "deliberate a draft decision" on delaying the annual session, the Xinhua report said.
The new infection figures, as of Sunday, have brought the total to 70,548 cases and 1,770 deaths, according to the country's health authorities. The vast majority have been reported in Hubei, the central Chinese province at the center of the epidemic.
China's central bank rolled out on Monday a series of initiatives expected to ease the impact on businesses hit by the outbreak, including lowering interest rates on 200 billion yuan ($28.7 billion) worth of one-year medium-term loans.
But the outbreak's impact on business activity in China has continued, with a major Beijing motor show slated for April 21-30 now pushed back to an undetermined date. The organizer of Auto China 2020 said Monday the highly anticipated event will be postponed to ensure the safety of participants.
Restrictions were further tightened in Hubei on Sunday after its newly installed provincial leader, Ying Yong, instructed the province to boost medical supplies and quarantine measures to "resolutely prevent the epidemic from spreading from urban to rural areas," according to the local government.
Non-vital vehicles were banned from the roads, while businesses, apart from supermarkets, pharmacies and medical supply manufacturers, are required to remain shut.
Meanwhile, Xiaogan, a Hubei city about 50 kilometers northwest of the worst-affected city of Wuhan, was put under lockdown starting Friday afternoon, implementing "the strictest and most effective control measures," according to Xinhua.
The city, which had reported 2,697 infections and 57 deaths by Friday while being subject to travel restrictions since late January, will be under quarantine for at least two weeks.
Japanese auto companies Toyota Motor Corp., Mazda Motor Corp., and Nissan Motor Co. said they partially resumed operations on Monday at factories in China, at reduced output, after they had been suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Honda Motor Co. also said it has partially resumed output at its car factories in Guangzhou.
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