Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong announced relief measures totalling HK$137.5 billion ($17.7 billion) on Wednesday as it joins global efforts to offset the impact of coronavirus, which has taken a heavy toll on the city, in particular its tourism and retail sectors.

The government said as part of those measures it was allocating HK$80 billion to help companies struggling with the impact of the disease to pay worker salaries.

PHNOM PENH, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Tuesday that mutual help between Cambodia and China in the time of COVID-19 pandemic has uplifted the bilateral relations to new heights.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed," he said during a press conference on the latest situation of COVID-19 in Cambodia. "Cambodia-China friendship takes a step further and will reach new heights after this event."

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China will set up 46 new integrated pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce, as well as support processing trade with new steps and hold the Canton Fair online to keep foreign trade and investment stable amid the epidemic, according to the State Council's executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang Tuesday.

Figures from the General Administration of Customs showed that the retail sales of China's cross-borer e-commerce businesses reached 186.21 billion yuan (about 26.25 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Some 25 million jobs are at risk of disappearing due to plummeting demand for air travel amid the COVID-19 crisis, with the bulk of job losses amounting to 11.2 million are in the Asia Pacific, warned the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 

Airlines are calling on governments to provide immediate financial aid to help airlines to remain viable businesses that are able to lead the recovery when the pandemic is contained.

WUHAN, Apr 8 (NNN-XINHUA) – With long lines of cars streaming through expressway toll gates and passengers boarding trains, the megacity of Wuhan in central China started lifting outbound travel restrictions from today (Wednesday), after almost 11 weeks of lock-down to stem the spread of COVID-19.

At Fuhe toll gate in northern Wuhan, cars honked horns and rushed out, after barricades were removed at midnight.

Guo Lei, who ran a business in Wuhan, drove his car with six others, to the toll gate at around 8:40 p.m. and waited for a home-bound trip.

BEIJING (AP) — A prominent Communist party member who criticized Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak is being investigated on suspicion of a “severe violation of discipline and law,” a joint government-party watchdog said.

Ren Zhiqiang is a former head of state-run real estate conglomerate Huayuan Group and a party member who has become known for his outspokenness on sensitive topics such as press censorship.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower, gyrating in early Wednesday trading amid uncertainty over the coronavirus outbreak, which continues to claim more lives around the world.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1% to 18,974.06 in morning trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.3% at 5,234.60, while South Korea’s Kospi lost nearly 0.4% to 1,816.84. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6% to 24,121.07, while the Shanghai Composite dipped 0.4% to 2,808.85.

WUHAN, China (AP) — After 11 weeks of lockdown, people went outdoors and by the thousands boarded the first trains and planes leaving Wuhan as the last restrictions on movement were lifted Wednesday in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began.

Wuhan’s unprecedented lockdown was a model for countries trying to stop the coronavirus. With the restrictions ending, Hubei’s provincial capital begins another experiment: resuming business and ordinary life while preventing more illnesses.

Tokyo, Apr 7 (AFP/PTI) Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a month-long state of emergency in Tokyo and six other parts of the country over a spike in coronavirus cases.

"As I decided that a situation feared to gravely affect people's lives and the economy has occurred... I am declaring a state of emergency," Abe said.

The measure falls short of the strict lockdowns seen in other parts of the world but empowers local governors to urge people to stay inside and to call for businesses to close.

BEIJING, Apr 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) – No COVID-19 deaths were reported in China today, Tuesday (Apr 7), the first time since it started publishing daily figures in Jan, the National Health Commission said.

Cases in mainland China have been dwindling since Mar, but the country faces a second wave of infections brought in from overseas.

It reported 32 new cases on Monday, down from 39 cases a day earlier.