BEIJING, November 3 (TMTPOST) — Chinese local authorities in some major cities, including Beijing, have reassured residents that the supply of basic necessities is sufficient and urged them to purchase rationally to avoid panic buying. The recent panic buying of daily necessities such as food in many Chinese cities was triggered by the Ministry of Commerce of China’s advisory to residents to stock up a reasonable amount of daily necessities, the coming of the winter season, and seemingly serious COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

Source: Visual China

The Ministry of Commerce advised that households could stock up a reasonable amount of daily necessities to prepare for emergencies in a recent notice of stabilizing prices for daily necessities such as vegetables on Monday. Residents in some Chinese cities, including Beijing and Changzhou, have responded with panic buying, believing that there is a deeper meaning behind the Ministry of Commerce’s advice. In Beijing, residents have flocked to supermarkets to buy rice, noodles, and seasoning products. Residents in Changzhou are stockpiling food, medicine, and surgical masks, etc. Several major supermarkets in Changzhou had long queues at their stores, many of which required customers to wait for around two hours. Price surge of daily necessities had been reported as a result.

The panic buying is also sparked by the coming winter season and a new wave of COVID-19 outbreaks in China. The country’s capital city Beijing has registered a total of 39 local cases with one case being asymptomatic. Residential communities where the patients reside are now under tight monitoring and underwent quarantine. When the residential communities are under quarantine, residents are not allowed to freely enter and exit the communities.

Local authorities have clarified that the supply of daily necessities is sufficient and urged residents to purchase daily necessities rationally, commenting that food cannot be preserved for long under current temperature.