Why did China's request for its citizens to `stock up on essential goods` cause panic through Arab communication sites?

Weather of Arabia - The news of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce urging families to "stock up a quantity of necessary goods" has caused concern and panic through social media in many Arab countries, and the "China" hashtag has become the most widely circulated on Twitter in many Arab countries, so why was all of that panic?

Many Arab media had reported that "China calls on its citizens to stockpile foodstuffs in preparation for an unspecified emergency," and soon the pioneers of the communication sites began circulating the news without going into details.

The ambiguity of the news this time raised concern and speculation, especially since it did not clarify what the emergency meant by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, as many people have been dealing with great interest with all the news related to China since the Corona epidemic was cured in the Chinese province of Wuhan in 2019, so some went to expect the matter to be linked to a new mutator of the virus Corona.

The directive of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce also raised the concern of some Chinese social media pioneers as well, and a user on the site said as soon as this news appeared, all the old people near me panicked, which prompted them to buy food intensively.

What were the motives of the news?

On Monday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued a statement saying that it "encourages families to stockpile an amount of necessary goods as needed to meet the needs of daily life and emergencies."

The ministry directed the local authorities to work to ensure the availability of daily necessities, such as vegetables, and the stability of their prices, throughout the next winter and spring. As well as strengthening market monitoring, daily supply tracking.

To clarify the news, Chinese newspapers indicated that the purpose is to ensure that citizens will not be surprised in the event of a closure in their region if the rate of infection with the Corona virus increases.

Journalists based in China said, "The warning is a routine measure from the Ministry of Commerce before the onset of winter, in addition to the outbreak of Corona cases in several provinces, and heavy rains that led to the closure of some roads.

According to Reuters, the Chinese government usually makes additional efforts to boost the supply of fresh vegetables and meat before the Lunar New Year holiday, which this year will be in February 2022, but these efforts have become more urgent this year after severe weather in early October destroyed crops. In some counties, in addition to the fear of an outbreak of new cases of corona, which may threaten to disrupt the food supply.