Defeating COVID-19 and building a community with a shared future

The Chinese people have put up a tenacious fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. Such extraordinary efforts have resulted in a growing positive momentum in epidemic control across the country. In the course of this fight, China has followed its vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, lived up to its responsibility as a major country and made a substantial contribution to global public health.

China has demonstrated its sense of responsibility by curbing the global spread of the virus. Standing at the forefront of the fight, China has fulfilled its responsibility for global public health as well as for its own people. It has taken the most decisive and thorough measures to contain the spread of the virus beyond its borders. Chinese medical workers and researchers have raced against time to improve diagnostic and therapeutic solutions in an effort to raise the cure rate and lower the case fatality rate. With its quick response, China has bought precious time for the international community to enhance preparedness; with its forceful response, China has served as a strong line of defense against the spread of the epidemic.

UN Secretary General António Guterres described China’s sacrifice in containing the spread of the novel coronavirus as a great contribution to all mankind. World Health Organisation Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that China’s forceful actions have limited the spread of the virus both domestically and beyond its borders. China is protecting not only its own people, but also the rest of the world.

China has earned trust for promoting a joint response to this global challenge. Since the epidemic broke out, China has placed great importance on international health cooperation. It has provided timely updates on the epidemic in a spirit of openness and transparency, shared the genetic sequencing of the virus, worked closely with the WHO, neighbouring countries and other countries concerned, and invited international experts to join this fight. Committed to protecting the health of foreign nationals in China, we have worked in coordination with foreign missions to offer the latest information and consular assistance to the expatriate communities, who are united by trust, empathy and solidarity with China. China’s concrete actions have won itself wide endorsement and appreciation from the world and demonstrated its firm commitment to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

President of the 74th UN General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande commended China’s exemplary leadership and transparency in fighting the epidemic. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan stressed that the whole world appreciates and commends China for its response and that no other country could have done better than China.  It is widely agreed by the international community that the Chinese people have contributed significantly to curbing the outbreak and that China’s epidemic response is made not only out of a great sense of responsibility for the life and health of its own people but also as a strong support for the global fight against the disease.

China has set a high standard for improving global public health governance. This outbreak is a major test for China’s governance system and capacity and for the global governance system and capacity. China’s signature strength, efficiency and speed in this fight has been widely acclaimed, and the institutional advantage of China’s governance is for all to see. Under the unified command, coordination and direction, an inter-agency task force was set up immediately after the outbreak; first-level public health emergency response was activated in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities; and tens of thousands of medical workers and massive amounts of medical supplies and daily necessities were rapidly delivered to Hubei from across the country. These are vivid examples of the institutional strength of socialism with Chinese characteristics in pooling resources for major undertakings.

The international community shares the view that the speed, intensity and scope of China’s epidemic response is rarely seen in the world, that the leadership, response, mobilisation and implementation capabilities China has demonstrated are exemplary for the rest of the world, and that China has gathered valuable experience for the international community in handling emergencies caused by infectious diseases and advancing global public health governance.

The history of civilisation is a history of fighting diseases. COVID-19 is yet another sobering reminder that in this age of globalisation, the futures of countries are closely linked and building a community with a shared future for mankind is the right way to go. China will take our joint response to the epidemic as an opportunity to call for greater international coordination and cooperation to jointly safeguard the planet, our only home, and build a global village where we all have a stake in each other’s success.

Guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China is committed to international and regional cooperation on epidemic response. To defeat COVID-19 is not only imperative for the life and health of the Chinese people, but also vital to the safety and well being of people across the globe. The Foreign Ministry will implement the directions of the Party Central Committee, properly handle China’s external affairs by keeping in mind both the need of epidemic control and economic and social development, and advance China’s personnel exchanges and cooperation with other countries in a coordinated way.

We will expand cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels against the epidemic and keep up the good communication with the WHO. We will explore transnational epidemic prevention and control by China and countries concerned by better synergising competent departments responsible for health, quarantine, transportation and border control; promptly sharing epidemic updates, containment measures and research findings; and intensifying joint R&D of antiviral drugs and vaccines. As we are doing our best to control the outbreak at home, China will assist countries and regions experiencing a spread of infections as much as we can and live up to our role as a responsible major country.

Guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China will deeply involve itself in global public health governance. Public health emergencies are a common challenge to all countries. The COVID-19 outbreak has laid bare inadequacies in global public health governance and highlighted the urgency to buttress the system. China is ready to work with the rest of the international community to address these challenges. We support the core role of the UN and the WHO in responding to health emergencies and in improving the global public health governance system. Public health issues should be moved up on the international agenda. Major international health projects should be implemented and a health Silk Road taken forward.

Guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China will join the world in responding to non-traditional security challenges. We live in an era where traditional and non-traditional security issues are intertwined. Non-traditional security issues such as major communicable diseases pose an increasingly serious challenge to mankind as a whole. China will put into practice its concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. We will promote greater dialogue and communication on non-traditional security matters, help advance relevant international cooperation processes, and work to build up understanding and trust among different parties. These efforts will help enrich the concept and practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The writer is State Councillor and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China