BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China will enhance inter-provincial coordination to ensure a steady supply of daily necessities to Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and surrounding areas in the central province of Hubei which is in a critical stage of the anti-epidemic battle.

The Ministry of Commerce said in a circular released Monday that more efforts will be made to secure the supply of vital necessities including vegetables, meat, rice and cooking oil as Hubei expands lockdowns to contain the virus.

Noting that epidemic prevention and control have entered a critical stage that requires stringent efforts, the circular said related parties should fully engage in ensuring steady supplies, so as to prevent the occurrence of continuous gaps in the market or panic buying.

The circular stressed offering guidance to commerce, trade and logistics enterprises in resuming their businesses in an orderly manner, and that local governments should balance epidemic prevention and control with the flexible return of workers.

For areas that have effectively controlled the spread, they should be ready to support key areas affected by the epidemic by properly expanding the scale of production resumption and enhancing their outbound supply capacities.

Led by the commerce ministry, the supply coordination mechanism was established after the coronavirus outbreak with the participation of nine provincial-level regions.