China's progress on business resumption on April 15

Amid further containment of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic, China is powering ahead in returning to work and resuming business and production. The following are the latest facts and figures:

— China launched a 15-day online trade fair on April 14 to promote cooperation between Chinese and Latin American businesses.

The China-Latin America (Mexico) international trade digital exhibition, sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, has attracted about 2,000 domestic enterprises and about 5,000 overseas buyers.

— The asset requirement of $1 billion for overseas financial institutions to invest in Chinese trust companies will be lifted, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on April 14.

The top banking and insurance watchdog has revised rules regulating trust companies and solicited public opinions to expand opening-up in the trust sector.

— China's two grid giants have made ambitious investment plans to build charging piles for new energy vehicles as the country speeds up infrastructure construction to support the development of electric cars.

The State Grid Corporation of China announced on April 14 that it would invest 2.7 billion yuan (about $383.5 million) this year to build 78,000 charging piles. The move followed plans announced by the China Southern Power Grid that it would invest 25.1 billion yuan in charging facilities in the next four years.

— China's central bank on April 15 further lowered the interest rate of its medium-term lending facility loans by 20 basis points amid a slew of monetary policy maneuvers to mitigate impact of COVID-19 on the world's second largest economy.

The People's Bank of China lowered the rate of 100 billion yuan worth of one-year MLF to financial institutions to 2.95 percent, compared with 3.15 percent on the previous operation.