Shenzhen, a prosperous city in South China's Guangdong Province, has made outstanding achievements in the treatment and prevention of the SARS epidemic as well as minimizing the impact of SARS on economic development.

The last SARS patient left hospital last week and the last two patients suspected of SARS infection were confirmed as non-SARS patients on Monday, said Zhou Jun'an, director of Shenzhen Health Bureau, at a press conference in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, yesterday.

The city has reported 53 SARS cases with only one death and not a single medical staff member was infected with the virus.

"The achievement is outstanding in an economically and culturally dynamic city which neighbours Hong Kong and Guangzhou, both of which were seriously affected by thel epidemic in the past few months," noted Tang Jie, secretary-general of Shenzhen municipal government.

Tang said the city has taken effective measures to isolate SARS patients and to prevent the virus from spreading further.

Shenzhen has spent more than 200 million yuan (US$24.10 million) on precautionary and preventative facilities including disinfection and preventative medicines.

The city has also earmarked the huge sum of 50 million yuan (US$6.02 million) for research and development related to SARS vaccines, medicines and reagents.

Tang said the municipal authorities have also done much work to prevent the virus from spreading outside the city by encouraging migrant workers to stay in the city when SARS was at its peak in the province.

The city organized a series of activities to entertain these workers as well as training programmes for them during the May Day holiday week.

Tang said the city's achievement in minimizing the negative impact of SARS on the economic development was equally noticeable.

He said that the municipal authorities have offered timely assistance to tertiary industries to help them overcome the impact of SARS, including subsidized power expenses, special temporary subsidies, reducing land use fees and cutting charge items.

Not a single enterprise closed down or laid off employees as a result of SARS in Shenzhen, he said.

Special temporary subsidies alone reached 12 million yuan (US$1.25 million) and the electric power price was lowered by 6.53 per cent.

The city has stepped up its investment in fixed assets to make up for the slowdown in economic development due to SARS.

The city poured 9 billion yuan (US$1.08 billion) into fixed assets in May, a record high.

Editor: Liao Ming