CBN丨Darkest hour：Xi’an faces dual threats of COVID-19 and hemorrhagic fever

三分钟音频，中英文带你速览中国经济头条。

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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

大家好，我是主持人李莹亮。

Coming up on today’s program.

重点提要

• Northwest China’s Xi'an is making all-out efforts to contain Covid-19 and hemorrhagic fever;

• Over 80% private tutoring institutions have been slashed in China following 'double reduction' policy

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

中国经济要闻

The Chinese city of Xi'an began testing millions of residents for the coronavirus on Tuesday for a second round after the detection of more than 140 cases raised concerns of wider transmission ahead of a busy travel season.

More COVID-19 cases were discovered during testing, indicating community spread was a factor, Shaanxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. The outbreak has spilt out from the city as related cases were reported not only in nearby Xianyang and Yan'an, but as far as in South China Guangdong province and Beijing.

China reported 57 new local infections yesterday, of which 52 were from Xi’an, making a total of 143 confirmed cases in the city since the outbreak started on Dec 9.

The historic northwestern city has shut schools and large indoor recreation venues while encouraging residents to avoid going out and congregating in large groups, according to local government notices.

Ahead of a crucial period that will see the capital Beijing host the Winter Olympics in February as well as a surge in cross-country travel during the Lunar New Year, authorities are keen to extinguish the flare-ups as China pursues a zero-tolerance policy toward the disease.

But COVID-19 isn’t the only scourge to hit Xi'an in recent weeks. Since the start of winter, the city also logged several cases of potentially deadly hemorrhagic fever, a natural epidemic disease with a high fatality rate, unnerved the public. Local authorities have urged calm about the rodent-borne disease, saying it is common across northern China and easily preventable through vaccination.

As the Omicron variant swiftly spreads across North America and Europe, booster shot now seems to be a go-to option that could put a stop to the virus. Zhang Wenhong, China’s leading epidemiologist, said last Friday that the third dose of China's COVID-19 vaccines is effective against the Omicron and Delta variants.

Meanwhile, China's domestically developed monoclonal neutralising antibody therapy could be used clinically in the country within weeks, adding a tool to the global arsenal against the coronavirus.

"We will get through the last cold winter together with the international community and welcome a normal and stable life next year," Zhang said.

隐匿传播、市区扩散、疫情外溢……千年古都西安的疫情进入了艰难时刻。

12月21日，西安开始新一轮全员核酸检测。在昨日全国新增本土57例病例中，西安市占了52例，邻近的咸阳市1例。截止21日24时，西安本轮疫情已确诊143例。

陕西省疾控中心主任刘峰认为，西安市已出现隐匿性传播，形成一定规模的社区传播，并已外溢至北京、东莞、延安、咸阳4城。根据西安公布的最新发布的确诊病例的详情，多位感染者已经不在同一传播链上，为主动核酸采样时查出阳性，并不是已经被管控隔离的密接人群或重点人群——这也意味着传播链很可能还在延长。对西安这个千万级人口的大城市，特别是人口密度大的主城区来说，将是巨大的考验。

目前，全省已累计封闭管控风险点位453个，关闭各类相关场所1300余处，第二轮全员核酸检测正在进行中。12月20日起，西安市全市中小学、幼儿园居家观测，同时停课不停学，复课时间另行通知。另外，西安市新冠肺炎疫情防控指挥部要求广大市民持48小时内核酸检测阴性报告前往单位上班，并做好个人安全防护。西安道路客运及机场亦加强防控，要求旅客持48小时内核酸检测阴性报告出入西安。

除了应对新冠疫情，今年入冬以来，西安市各大医院相继接诊多例出血热患者，两种传染病叠加，使得西安冬季疫情防控形势更为严峻。专家介绍，对于出血热传播方式，人与人传播极为罕见，且肾综合征出血热也属于可防可治。

12月17日凌晨，国家传染病医学中心主任、复旦大学附属华山医院感染科主任张文宏发文，中国的动态清零策略已经被证实4周左右终能应对德尔塔病毒散发和局部爆发，跑赢病毒只是时间问题，无需恐慌。 他指出，中国香港团队研究做出重要判断，病毒对2针疫苗接种发生了显著的逃避，且传播速度在德尔塔基础上显著加剧。他表示，在接种疫苗后，专家发现人们的免疫力会随着时间的推移，特别是六个月以后都会出现比较显著的下降。因而推动第三针疫苗接种，成为全球性的补救措施和策略。

张文宏指出，国产大分子药物仍能在应急应用中起到一定的疗效，新抗体临床试验和靶向性的小分子药物将在2021年下半年逐渐问世。12月9日，国家药监局已批准腾盛博药单克隆中和抗体安巴韦单抗/罗米司韦单抗的联合疗法的上市申请。

“这个冬季和春节我们将和国际社会一起度过最后一个寒冷的冬季，我们终会‘拨开云雾见天日，守得云开见月明’。”张文宏说。

Greater Bay Area, Greater Future

新使命，大未来

• The Hong Kong SAR government said on Tuesday that it strongly opposes to the Five Eyes Alliance countries' attempt to smear against the election of the seventh-term Legislative Council, saying that the allegations are contrary to facts and without basis to smear against the election.

  港府坚决反对“五眼”抹黑选举：针对美国、英国、澳大利亚、加拿大、新西兰外长就香港特别行政区第七届立法会选举发表的联合声明，香港特区政府发言人21日表示，坚决反对上述五国作出罔顾事实、毫无理据的指控。

Next on industry and company news

产经消息及公司新闻

• More than 80 percent of academic tutoring institutions have closed down or switched to other fields of business due to ongoing efforts to reduce the excessive academic burden on primary and middle school students, the Ministry of Education said on Tuesday, adding that any remaining tutoring institutions should be turned into nonprofit ones or closed.

  学科类校外培训已压减超8成：教育部21日召开新闻发布会表示，目前线下校外培训机构已压减83.8%，线上校外培训机构已压减84.1%。留下的培训机构一部分转为非营利性机构，实行政府指导价，为人民群众提供公益服务。

• Chinese regulators on Wednesday suspended an information-sharing partnership with Alibaba Cloud Computing, a subsidiary of e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group, over accusations it failed to promptly report and address a cybersecurity loophole. The Hong Kong-listed Alibaba ended slightly up 0.88 percent after shooting up over 5 percent in early tradings.

  阿里云被工信部暂停合作：据媒体报道，近期工业和信息化部网络安全管理局通报称，阿里云公司发现阿帕奇（Apache）Log4j2组件严重安全漏洞隐患后，未及时向电信主管部门报告，未有效支撑工信部开展网络安全威胁和漏洞管理。经研究，现暂停阿里云公司作为上述合作单位6个月。今天阿里巴巴港股开盘一度冲高超5%，随后涨幅收窄，最终仅微涨0.88%。

• The debt-ridden developer China Evergrande posted a notice on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Wednesday, saying its risk management committee is utilising all extensive resources and will actively engage with the group's creditors to mitigate the risks.

  中国恒大港交所公告：针对本集团目前面临的风险，中国恒大集团风险化解委员会正调动广泛资源，并将积极与债权人保持沟通，努力化解集团风险，维护各方合法权益。

金融市场要闻

• China's central bank on Wednesday denied rumours that Chen Yaoming, board director and member of the Party committee at the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corp, was being investigated because he was suspected of printing banknotes with the same code number worth 2 trillion yuan without authorisation. Chen is being investigated on suspicion of serious violation of discipline and law, an official statement said earlier this month.

  央行辟谣陈耀明“私印2万亿同号钞”：近日，网络流传中国印钞造币总公司党委委员、董事陈耀明“疑似因私印’同号钞’2万亿。”对此，中国人民银行货币金银局有关负责人表示，此为谣言，性质恶劣。人民币印制发行有严格的工作程序和技术标准，中国人民银行一直依法依规开展相关工作。我行对造谣、传谣行为严厉谴责，已经向公安机关报案。12月8日，中央纪委国家监委网站披露，陈耀明涉嫌严重违纪违法，主动投案，目前正接受纪律审查和监察调查。

最后来看股市收盘情况

• Chinese stocks closed mixed on Wednesday with the tech sector leading the gains, as stocks of MetaVerse and Chinese medicine jumped. The Shanghai Composite went down 0.07 percent, while the Shenzhen Component closed 0.7 percent higher. The Hang Seng Index gained 0.57 percent as the tech sector continued to rebound.

  周三A股沪深指数涨跌不一，沪指全天窄幅震荡，小幅收跌0.07%，深成指涨0.7%。科技股全天强势，元宇宙概念股、中药股亦上涨。港股恒生指数涨0.57%，科技股继续反弹。

Biz Word of the Day

财经词汇划重点

• Neutralising Monoclonal Antibodies are recombinant proteins that can be derived from the B cells of convalescent patients, which can bind to and “neutralise” the virus in infected patients.

  单克隆中和抗体即鉴定出康复者血浆中可有效中和新冠病毒的特异性抗体，然后通过克隆单一细胞的方式大量生产这种抗体。

（欢迎大家提供意见和反馈，请联系主播李莹亮：liyl@21jingji.com）

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI, ZHANG Ran

Producer: XIANG Xiufang

Sound Editor: ZHANG Ran, Andy YUAN

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Co-produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News & SFC Audio/Video Dept.

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编委: 于晓娜

策划、编辑：李艳霞

播音：李莹亮

撰稿：李莹亮、张然

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（作者：李莹亮,见习记者张然 编辑：李艳霞）

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