China's progress on business resumption on April 22

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's air passenger numbers have recovered to nearly one-third of the level seen in the same period last year, the country's top civil aviation authorities said on April 22.

China's air traffic has been steadily recovering since late February. Daily air passenger numbers hit 458,300 in March, surging 69.8 percent over February, Jin Junhao, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, told a press conference.

Air traffic continued to rebound in April. As of April 21, daily passenger numbers had risen to 494,400, up 7.9 percent from March and about one-third of the level of the same period last year. The number of flights had jumped to 6,586 per day, exceeding 40 percent of the volume of the same period a year ago.

— Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil on April 22 broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou, South China's Guangdong province.

The complex, with a total investment of about $10 billion, will be built in two phases. The first phase with a 1.6 million metric-ton-per-year ethylene cracker and down-stream production equipment is scheduled to be completed by 2023 when construction on the second phase will begin.

An annual operating income of 39 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) and 7.3 billion yuan of taxes will be expected when the first phase reaches designed capacity.

ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods in Dallas said via video link at a special "cloud ceremony" held online that the project reflects China's growing commitment to foreign direct investment and fostering innovation.

— Over 7,000 job seekers on April 21 attended a job fair in Wuhan, the city's first on-site recruitment activity since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The human resources and social security bureau of Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, said 281 enterprises brought over 10,000 job vacancies into the event's seven sub-fairs held in different districts, which saw a total of 3,528 people signing recruitment contracts.

The return of such on-site job fairs came as Wuhan continues to speed up work resumption and bring its battered economy back on track.

The city had previously held several online job fairs as residents were told to stay at home during the 76-day lockdown, which was lifted on April 8 as the epidemic petered out.