Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits an industrial park, which produces high-end auto parts and molds, in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

A leadership meeting on COVID-19 epidemic chaired by Xi Jinping noted that China will use stronger macro policy tools to cushion the epidemic fallout while making efforts to ensure that the epidemic will not rebound.

BEIJING, April 17  -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Friday chaired a leadership meeting on regular COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control measures.

The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee also studied the current economic situation and made arrangements for economic work.

The meeting came two days after Xi presided over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also on the epidemic response and economic situation.

Friday's meeting pointed out that while the positive momentum in China's epidemic response is being consolidated, the task remains formidable, requiring control measures on a regular basis and strengthened efforts to guard against both imported infections and domestic rebounds.

The meeting stressed continuous epidemic response measures in hard-hit Hubei Province and its capital city of Wuhan, including extensive nucleic acid testing among key population groups and those who volunteer to get tested.

The epidemic prevention and control work in Beijing should be further strengthened, while targeted measures should be taken across the country to guard against rebounds in cases, according to the meeting.