Construction gradually resumes on housing, infrastructure projects

BEIJING - Construction has gradually resumed on housing and public infrastructure projects in China as local regions ramped up efforts to bring workers back to work while containing the epidemic, a senior housing official said Tuesday.

As of March 8, a total of 111,900 housing and infrastructure projects across the country cranked up construction, accounting for 58.15 percent of the nationwide total, according to Ni Hong, vice-minister of housing and urban-rural development.

Region-specific approaches should be adopted when advancing construction resumption work on workers' returning, building materials supply and epidemic prevention, Ni said.

Chartered trains and coaches have been arranged to facilitate migrant workers back to work, while the country's growing production capacity of protective supplies like masks also helped tide enterprises over the tough time.

The ministry also rolled out measures to cushion the epidemic blow on hard-hit companies. For firms that had difficulty in applying for administrative licenses due to the epidemic, validity periods of their enterprise qualification will automatically be extended to July 31, according to Ni.