China's progress on business resumption on April 16

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:

— Some 72.8 percent of key foreign-invested firms have recovered over 70 percent of work capacity as of April 14, up 0.9 percentage points compared with last week.

— China continued to see a generally stable housing market in March, with home prices in 70 major cities showing milder month-on-month increases.

New home prices in four first-tier cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou — went up 0.2 percent in March, which stayed unchanged month-on-month in February.

— China expanded the pilot policy of selective tariffs on domestic sales to all comprehensive bonded zones from April 15, amid efforts to relieve the tax burden on export enterprises.

The move is expected to help export companies survive the decline in overseas orders and explore the domestic market amid the global fight against COVID-19.

— As of April 14, 241 listed companies on the A-share market have implemented stock buyback plans this year and 24 companies have announced plans to repurchase stocks.

Through repurchasing stocks, listed companies send the signal that they have put on strong performance on the market and have confidence in future development.