BEIJING — China will release winter and spring vegetable reserves in major northern cities to ease the shortage of supply amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Major cities in North China should strengthen local market monitoring and release vegetable reserves in a timely manner to ensure residents' daily consumption needs, according to a circular released by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce.

In the mean time, it is necessary to supplement the vegetable reserves through the procurement from out-of-town production bases and conduct local off-peak purchasing, said the circular.

The circular also called for efforts to optimize vegetable transportation channels for better transport capacity on the premise of effective epidemic prevention and control.