国内英语新闻:China's Hubei to further lower COVID-19 emergency-response level

WUHAN, June 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Hubei Province, once hit hard by COVID-19, will lower its novel coronavirus emergency response posture from level II to level III starting Saturday, a local official announced Friday.

Yang Yunyan, vice governor of Hubei, said the COVID-19 prevention-and-control measures will be adjusted and optimized accordingly.

The province will gradually open public venues and resume conferences, exhibitions, trans-provincial tourism and classes in an orderly way, Yang said.

By the end of Thursday, no new asymptomatic cases had been reported in the provincial capital Wuhan for 12 consecutive days, and other areas of the province had seen no such cases for nine days.

Hubei lowered its COVID-19 emergency response from the top level to the second level on May 2.

The liaison group of the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 urged Hubei to continue to make COVID-19 prevention and control a priority and advance the orderly resumption of cultural and tourism sectors.

Also on Friday, 20 investment projects with a total value of 65.8 billion yuan (about 9.3 billion U.S. dollars) were signed at a special event for leading global companies to aid Wuhan. The projects cover autos and parts, smart manufacturing, health and medicare, logistics, education and financing.