Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Munich, Germany, Feb. 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
China has won the respect and recognition of the international community with its efforts and even sacrifice in the fight against the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19), State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Berlin on Friday in an interview with Reuters.
The sudden outbreak of the epidemic has indeed brought a grave challenge to China and the world, but the Chinese government and people have stood up to the challenge, Wang said.
Wang noted that after the outbreak, the Chinese government, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, immediately established a nationwide mechanism to mobilize resources from across the country.
China has taken the most comprehensive, stringent and thorough prevention and control measures, many of which are well beyond what is required by the International Health Regulations and the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), he said.
China's decisive response is both right and effective, and that by and large, the outbreak is controllable and the disease curable, Wang said, citing figures that as of Friday, the number of newly confirmed cases outside Hubei province has been declining for 11 consecutive days against a rapid rise in cure rate, and nearly 7,000 people have recovered and been discharged from hospital; the case fatality rate stood at around 2 percent across the country, and just 0.49 percent for regions outside Hubei.
China has, from the very beginning, acted in an open and transparent manner in reporting relevant information timely to the world and carrying out international cooperation, Wang noted.
To date, the number of confirmed cases outside China is less than one percent of the total, he said.
China has been not only doing its best to ensure the life, safety and health of the Chinese people, but also taking effective measures to stem a global spread of the epidemic, making contribution and sacrifice for global public health, said the minister.
WHO has on multiple occasions commended China for its responsible actions, speaking highly of China's decisive response and expressing confidence that China will overcome this epidemic, he said.
Heads of more than 160 countries and international organizations have showed their support through telegrams or letters, and the governments and peoples of several scores of countries have donated needed supplies, Wang said, expressing China's gratitude for these acts of kindness.
"True gold can stand the test of fire," Wang said, adding that emerging from this test, the Chinese people will become more resilient and united and the Chinese economy will achieve more solid and sustainable growth.
The Chinese people will continue to march confidently toward the goal of establishing a society of moderate prosperity in all respects and embark on a new journey of modernization, he said.
"There's another Chinese saying -- 'Adversity reveals true friendship,'" Wang said, adding that as China battles the disease together with the world, its friendship and trust with other countries will be strengthened and deepened.
Countries will realize that they live in a global village, with their future interconnected like never before, he said.
