GUANGZHOU, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS), located in Dongguan city, south China's Guangdong Province, has started this year's first round of user operation, according to the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The first user of this year's field experiments, a research team from the University of Science and Technology of China, aims to use neutron imaging technology for archaeological research.

The CSNS has taken measures to ensure the health and safety of users amid the COVID-19 outbreak, providing protective services including airport pick-up and drop-off, single room accommodation, meal delivery and free masks.

A total of six experiments, mainly involving new materials, have been completed since the CSNS reached its design beam power of 100 KW in February, a year and a half ahead of schedule.

Earlier, users sent their samples to the CSNS instead of field experiments due to the epidemic.

Since its opening in September 2018, the CSNS has completed 161 experiments for domestic and overseas users, of which about a quarter are from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

As the epidemic outbreak has been basically curbed in China, more and more companies are resuming their industrial production in an orderly fashion.

Over 90 percent of the major industrial enterprises in China's provincial-level regions except for certain areas including Hubei, the province hardest hit by the outbreak, have resumed work and production thanks to region-specific restoration measures, according to the top economic planner.