Residents line up to undergo nucleic acid testing in a residential compound in Tianjin's Nankai district on January 9, 2022. The city is undertaking massive testing to screen out potential virus carriers after reporting two locally transmitted Omicron cases. Photo: VCG

 

Multiple food companies in North China's Tianjin have joined the fight against the Omicron variant outbreak. The Tianjin government on Monday issued special licenses for some local food companies to ensure the normal operation of logistics in the region amid restrictions and checks along delivery routes.

The Global Times learned on Tuesday that four food companies in Tianjin -- state-owned China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp (COFCO), Jiusan Group, Beijing Grain Group and French food enterprise Louis Dreyfus Co (LDC) -- have received special licenses used for "securing people's livelihoods."

Shanghai-based grain wholesale and retail industry insider Chen Hao said that the four are major producers of local raw soybean oil and soybean meal, which are used for cooking oil and feed for livestock, respectively, and this means that Tianjin authorities plan to secure local food supplies by aiding the upstream segment of the industry chain.

Even though Tianjin's traffic volume is limited due to the coronavirus, food supplies and prices of daily necessities didn't see a sharp change, Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Tuesday. He suggested that the clear logistics routes in Tianjin and special transport licenses have played key roles in stabilizing the market amid the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Chen Hongzhi, general manager of LDC in Tianjin, which has daily soybean processing capacity of 4,000 tons, told the Global Times on Tuesday that LDC applied to the Tianjin Commission of Commerce on Monday for the license and was approved the same day. 

"The license assures the transport of food and living necessities, as well as the staff organization in the area," said Chen. 

"Most transport routes in Tianjin have implemented strict quarantine checks. Cargo trucks cannot go in and out as usual without these licenses," Zhang Ying, a staffer at the Jiusan Group in Tianjin, told the Global Times on Tuesday. She noted that the special licenses are meant to solve transport problems in the area, and they'll soon be sent to every truck driver under Jiusan Group's corporation partners and clients. 

Tianjin announced citywide testing after 20 people tested positive for coronavirus, authorities revealed on Sunday, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

As of Tuesday morning, 40 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the latest outbreak had been reported by the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cong said that the pandemic will be controlled within two weeks, because the Tianjin government's response in the logistics sector was relatively fast, based on learning from previous COVID-19 outbreaks. The response has eased the intense situation and public panic.

"As a large city adjacent to the capital and one of the nation's important grain production areas, Tianjin's stable supply of necessities has proved the importance of securing logistics," said Cong.