China on track to resume normal operation of road traffic

China is resuming normal operation of road traffic in regions outside of Hubei province, amid the country's efforts to go back to normal economic activities along with the fight against the novel coronavirus.

As of Feb 16, 14 provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui have resumed inter-provincial and intra-provincial road passenger transport, while 13 provinces have resumed intra-provincial road passenger transport, Li Guoping, an official with the Ministry of Transport, told Xinhua on Feb 18.

A total of 51 prefecture-level cities and 43 county-level cities in Hebei, Liaoning, Anhui and other provinces have resumed ground public transportation operation. Of the 41 cities that have opened urban rail transit, 34 have had their urban rail transit lines basically in normal operation.

The General Office of the State Council has issued a notice on ensuring the smooth flow of people and vehicles on highways in order to resume normal economic and social order.

The ministry has repeatedly stressed that it is not allowed to take measures such as closing expressways, blocking national and provincial trunk roads and isolating rural roads.

The ministry and other departments have jointly issued a notice requiring that for other areas outside Hubei province, along with epidemic prevention and control, the suspended transportation services should be resumed in an orderly manner.

In terms of supplies to Hubei, as of Feb 16, 306,000 metric tons of epidemic prevention and living materials and 809,000 tons of production materials such as coal and fuel oil had been transported to Hubei by rail, highway, water, civil aviation and postal services, according to the ministry.