As of Thursday, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 4.06 percent in December and about 25 percent this year.

As many of the goods and services that the Chinese consume will be imported, China's rising consumer strength will also be a crucial force for sustainable development of the world economy, said Liu Shijin, vice-chairman of the China Development Research Foundation and a member of the 13th CPPCC National Committee.

As of now, government officials of the two countries have never engaged in any negotiations concerning the trade friction, according to Gao.

As of 8 am Friday, the cold wave prompted over 5,000 people to be relocated. About 39,000 people are still in need of assistance, according to the provincial emergency management headquarters.

As part of the poverty alleviation effort, the town's incense cooperatives began to provide interest-free loans to local registered poverty-stricken households for them to become shareholders and employees in 2016. As of 2019, there were more than 30 incense cooperatives covering 683 people from 281 families in the town making 10 million yuan that year, one-sixth of that in the county.