Since may, the covid-19 epidemic in southeast Asia has been easing. Many countries have started to reassess the situation of epidemic prevention and control, gradually relax restrictive measures, and work hard to restore production and protect people's livelihood.

According to the briefing on covid-19 issued by the china-asean business council, on May 12, five of the 10 asean countries achieved "zero increase" in confirmed covid-19 cases, and Laos and Vietnam had no new confirmed cases for more than 20 consecutive days. There were no new confirmed cases in Thailand on July 13, while the number of new confirmed cases in Malaysia, the Philippines and other countries showed a slow decline. In order to mitigate the economic impact of the epidemic, governments in southeast Asia have gradually introduced relevant deregulation policies and measures.

Relaxed control policies were introduced

As of 20:00 Beijing time on May 12, 1089 new cases of covid-19 were confirmed in 10 asean countries in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in 10 asean countries to 59,664, including 1909 deaths and 16,098 cured cases. The overall slowdown in the situation in southeast Asia has prompted governments to begin phasing out the "lockdown" measures.

On May 12, the Philippine government switched from "enhanced quarantine restrictions" to "general community quarantine" in most parts of the country. Agriculture, fisheries, forestry, food manufacturing and all supply chains will return to work in areas where the quarantine has been "relaxed", while venues such as bars, sports venues and cinemas will remain closed. Manila international airport resumed international flights on May 11 after a week-long shutdown.

The Malaysian government recently began to relax the "action control order", most of the business activities eligible for health conditions can be gradually resumed, stranded people can drive across the state to return to their homes. The current action control order will be extended by four weeks until June 9, when the government will study and consider whether to relax the restrictions, including extending the deadline for applying for financial assistance. Malaysian prime minister muhyiddin says more than six million people have returned to work since the government announced the resumption of most economic activity, which will help promote economic recovery.

For the first time in Thailand, there was no increase in the number of confirmed cases in a single day. On May 10, Thailand's civil aviation authority approved five airports to open 24 hours a day, and announced the opening hours of airports nationwide. Thai prime minister prayuth chan-ocha said the government will begin the second phase of lifting the ban on May 17, when places such as department stores will reopen and more service industries will gradually open in the future.

The government of Laos has also recently issued relevant policies, allowing the resumption of work and production of many major projects in the region, including mining, electricity and highways, and requiring relevant enterprises to abide by the measures to contain the spread of the epidemic, so as to reduce the economic impact of the epidemic.

The production, living and consumption of many countries in southeast Asia have been severely affected by the epidemic. Tourism, retail and other service industries have suffered the most. A large number of workers have lost their jobs and regional economic growth has been restrained. Major economies such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines have recently lowered their growth forecasts for 2020.

We will increase economic stimulus

On the basis of strict prevention and control, southeast Asian countries have gradually introduced the policy of "lifting the embargo" to restore economic development. Anthony lopez, editor in chief of Asian business week in the Philippines, told the newspaper that the outbreak has left tens of millions of people in the region out of work and many trapped in poverty. As the epidemic eases, it is important to relax quarantine restrictions and get people back to work.

Asean's recent policy brief reaffirmed its commitment to upholding asean's open economy and integration policies, and its determination to take collective action to mitigate the economic impact of the outbreak, including by maintaining open markets, enhancing information sharing and coordination, and working closely with industry stakeholders; Defer all debts to prevent the company from going bankrupt during the outbreak. At the same time, asean has strengthened its interaction with its neighbors to further open the trade and investment markets between asean and China, Japan and the rok (10 + 3), ensure the safety of food and other production and living materials, and ensure the normal operation of regional supply chains.

Regional countries have also introduced a variety of stimulus policies. The Thai government bail-out plan has launched three consecutive outbreak, recently approved a package of economic rescue plan 1.9 trillion baht ($1 $32 m baht), accounted for 11.4% of gross domestic product in Thailand, it is mainly used for public health work and remedies, to rebuild the economy and create jobs and loans and corporate bonds to support the central bank. The previous two schemes were 400 billion baht and 207 billion baht respectively.

Vietnamese prime minister nguyen xuan phu said on May 9 that his country is "on the one hand carrying out epidemic prevention and control, on the other hand ensuring minimum economic operation and accelerating economic restructuring." The capital, Hanoi, is providing assistance to 3,600 businesses to revive activity in industrial zones and implementing preferential mechanisms to help companies research and innovate technologies.

Malaysia's government has rolled out an economic stimulus package worth about $57.5 billion, while increasing health spending to subsidize health care workers, police, military and customs.

We will strengthen regional cooperation in fighting the epidemic

Some experts pointed out that the epidemic prevention and control in southeast Asian countries has been showing a good trend, which is attributed to the timely and strict measures taken by many countries in the early stage of the epidemic, such as social quarantine, curfews and business closures, which greatly reduced the number of new confirmed cases in a single day. Asean, China, Japan and the rok (10 + 3) have shown the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance in the fight against covid-19, making great contribution to the fight against covid-19 in the region.

Asean countries strengthen regional cooperation in fighting the epidemic. Recently, asean countries and China have conducted in-depth exchanges through video conferences on testing methods, case tracking, prevention and control measures, clinical treatment, asymptomatic infected persons and other issues. China is actively sharing its experience in prevention, control and treatment with asean countries. Asean countries and China share experience in fighting covid-19 and learn from each other. Philippine foreign secretary carlos lochian said that China's anti-epidemic measures are correct and effective and that the Philippines has taken some measures that China has already taken.

China has also provided timely and substantial assistance to the affected asean countries. Chinese medical teams have arrived in Cambodia, Laos and other countries to fight alongside local medical workers. Medical supplies from China have been sent to myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries. At the same time, a large number of key "One Belt And One Road" projects, such as the jakarta-bandung high-speed railway in Indonesia, the china-myanmar oil and gas pipeline and the phnom penh-west port expressway in Cambodia, have made steady progress during the epidemic period, laying a solid foundation for regional economic development.

Hong feng, assistant to the President of charoen pokphand school of management in Thailand and chairman of Siam think tank in Thailand, told the reporter that the 10 + 3 mechanism is of great significance to asean cooperation in fighting the epidemic. Asean countries need to strengthen interaction with each other, give play to asean's unified and coordinated role as a community, and strengthen cooperation with China to promote regional economic recovery.