Beware! Blue Alert for Rainstorms in Southern and Eastern China!

Source: HangzhouTube, Global Times, Xinhua News, Chinanews.com

Good afternoon

From Monday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon, heavy rain and rainstorms are expected to hit areas including Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

Some of those regions will see up to 60 mm of rainfall, the NMC said.

The center advised local governments to keep alert to possible flooding, landslides and mudslides caused by heavy rain and recommended outdoor operations be halted in hazardous areas.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Chinese mainland reports no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases

Chinese health authority said Tuesday that no new domestically transmitted cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were reported on the Chinese mainland for Monday.

One confirmed case arriving from overseas was reported in Shanghai Monday, the National Health Commission said in its daily report Tuesday.

No deaths related to the disease were reported for Monday, according to the commission.

Altogether 87 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery Monday, while the number of severe cases decreased by four to 29.

China's online education users soar to 423m

As of March, the number of online education users in China had reached 423 million, up 110.2 percent from the end of 2018, according to a report on China's internet development released on last Tuesday.

The online education users accounted for 46.8 percent of the country's netizen population, said the report issued by the China Internet Network Information Center, adding the industry saw an explosive increase due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Noting that the opening of schools across the country was postponed during the epidemic, the report said 265 million students switched to online courses, bringing the number of daily active users on multiple online education applications to more than 10 million each.

Schools to refund accommodation fees

Regions across the country have required schools to return unused accommodation fees to students as this year's new term has been delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Schools that have charged students a whole school year's fees for boarding at school should refund the part that wasn't used during the second semester, according to a notice by the Education Department of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Hebei province in North China has issued a similar notice to local schools.

Other provinces, including Zhejiang, Sichuan and Shaanxi, have publicized similar refund policies. Some places are resuming classes in batches.

The Education Department of Sichuan said related fees should be refunded by the end of the spring semester. The province has also required schools to set up a hotline to address refunds.

The Ministry of Education issued a warning last month concerning school fees, where it is specified that schools are not allowed to collect the fees before students go back to school and resume the semester.

The ministry also said schools should provide financial aid to students with financial difficulties, including those infected by the novel coronavirus and ones whose family has been affected by COVID-19.

MYbank serves over 20 mln SMEs in China as of 2019

MYbank, a leading online private commercial bank under Ant Financial Services Group, served 20.87 million small and micro enterprises (SMEs) in China as of the end of 2019, according to its annual report.

MYbank worked with more than 400 financial partners to provide business loans to Chinese SMEs as of 2019, and 80 percent of MYbank loan users had previously never received business loans from banks, the report said.

The average outstanding loan size for MYbank users was 31,000 yuan (about 4,379 U.S. dollars) in 2019, an increase of nearly 20 percent year on year, reflecting robust growth among SMEs in China, the report said.

MYbank plans on extending credit lines to 70 percent of small and micro businesses in China in 2020, up from 50 percent in 2019.

Tourists visit West Lake in Hangzhou on Labor Day

Zhejiang Province is expected to receive 100 million tourists during the five-day Labor Day holiday. West Lake in Hangzhou is one of the most attractive destinations. It has adopted a booking system to limit the visitor flow to 30% of its capacity.

For Expats in Zhejiang

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