Beijing has ample supplies of goods and a panic buying spree will not last long in the city, said Cai Fuchao, director of the Publicity Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), in Beijing Friday.

Cai made the remark Friday morning at a press briefing on the developments with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Beijing.

Recently, a number of Beijing residents rushed to stores to buy foodstuffs, sanitation goods and other daily-use necessities, to which the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and municipal government attached great importance.

Beijing has set up its own production base of non-staple food, and goods supplies are being transported to Beijing from around China, Cai said, noting that "the supply of goods does not pose any slight problem."

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2003)