A number of ministry-level departments, including those responsible for education, customs, and human resources and social security, have responded recently to issues of public concern.

Ministry notice outlines teachers' responsibilities

Online teaching, tutoring and correcting homework will be counted as part of the workload of teachers during the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic and be included in performance appraisals, the Ministry of Education said in a notice published on Feb 14.

It said local education authorities and schools should arrange for teachers to carry out online teaching according to their own conditions. The epidemic has seen China postpone the start of the spring school semester.

The return of teachers to schools should be arranged according to the need for epidemic prevention and control, and teachers should not attend gatherings such as concentrated offline training or conventions, it said.

The notice also said rewards and recognition for teachers making outstanding contributions on the front line of epidemic prevention should be boosted.

Authorities ensure supply of labor for key industries

Local authorities have taken multiple measures to ensure the supply of labor for companies producing urgently needed goods and materials, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Feb 14.

The demand for labor by most companies that had resumed production had been satisfied, it said in a statement.

Local human resources departments had made contact with enterprises to help coordinate their use of workers and solve related problems.

In Tianjin and Guangdong province, the recruitment of local unemployed people and rural workers had been organized to support the resumption of production in priority companies.

Policies had been implemented to help reduce companies' labor costs during the Spring Festival holiday and recruitment agencies had been encouraged to provide services for companies, it said.

The ministry said coordinated services covering transportation and the prevention of novel coronavirus pneumonia were helping people employed in other provinces return to work.

Customs takes tough line of local pressure

The General Administration of Customs will take a tough line on local governments or companies' unreasonable requests to seize or withhold legally imported materials for epidemic prevention and control, it said in a notice released on Feb 13.

In a recent inspection of 42 local customs offices, the administration found that several local governments had asked the customs offices to seize or withhold legally imported epidemic prevention supplies.

The customs offices had firmly resisted such unreasonable requests, it said.

Customs statistics show that 957 million items related to epidemic prevention worth 3.07 billion yuan ($439 million) were examined and released by customs offices nationwide from Jan 24 to Feb 12.