Chen Yabin, manager of the Wanfang Chain supermarket, said the local government has been ensuring abundant supplies of all kinds of daily necessities in Beijing and that supplies are abundant everywhere.

In the past couple days, some Beijingers had rushed to buy eggs, dumplings, soy sauce, rice and instant noodles.

On Thursday morning, 35 trucks carrying 200 tons of flour, 50 tons of salt, 50 tons of rice and ten tons of noodles arrived at the distribution center of the Jingkelong Chainstore Group, a major chain supermarket in the city. The goods were expected to be sent to more than 70 outlets soon.

Wang Qishan, acting mayor of Beijing, inspected wholesale markets, vegetable markets and drug stores in the city Thursday afternoon. Following the inspection, he assured Beijingers that Beijing's reserve of daily necessities is adequate, and that medical supplies are holding out as the city fights severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Some panic buyers began to regret their actions, according to media reports. "My wife was overreacting. Now we've too much rice at home. What if the rice goes bad or rice insects infest the supply?" said an elderly man, complaining about his wife at the gate of Wanfang supermarket.

The ministry of commerce has set up an office headed by Minister Lu Fuyuan to supervise the preparation and allocation of commodities and medical supplies such as masks and disinfectants.

A nationwide information system had been set up to gather data on the purchases, sales, stocks and prices of these commodities. In addition, the ministry has established a 24-hour hotline to ensure the timely distribution of supplies.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2003)