Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the G20 Extraordinary Leaders' Summit on COVID-19 via video link in Beijing, capital of China, March 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
March 26
-- Via video link in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech titled "Working Together to Defeat the COVID-19 Outbreak" at the Extraordinary G20 Leaders' Summit.
Stressing the outbreak is spreading worldwide and the situation is disturbing and unsettling, Xi said it's imperative for the international community to strengthen confidence, act with unity and work together in a collective response to win the battle against such a major infectious disease for humanity.
Guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China will be more than ready to share its good practices, provide assistance in its capacity to countries hit by the growing outbreak, and contribute to the stability of the world economy, Xi said.
-- Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote in a reply letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying China has always supported the global COVID-19 containment efforts with concrete actions, and has offered assistance to the WHO and other international organizations, as well as more than 80 countries. Xi said China will continue to provide support for the international community in combating COVID-19 epidemic.
-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Li Keqiang presided over a meeting of the leading group of the CPC Central Committee COVID-19 response work, calling for strict implementation of measures to prevent the rebound of the epidemic within the country and efforts to step up measures to guard against risks of imported cases by land and water.
-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing announcing that 23 provincial-level regions reported confirmed imported cases of COVID-19 on March 25.
As revealed by the press conference, pressure remains huge to prevent the spread of the epidemic, and people should prepare for more persistent prevention and control efforts.
-- China's third medical team carrying ventilators, medical monitors, masks and other medical supplies arrived in Italy via chartered flight to help Italy fight the COVID-19 outbreak.
-- China held a video meeting on COVID-19 pandemic with medical experts and health officials from the West Asian and North African countries. About 200 participants from the Gulf Cooperation Council and 16 countries including Egypt, Algeria, Palestine, Lebanon, Kuwait and Qatar joined the online meeting.
-- According to the data of China International Development Cooperation Agency, China has thus far provided four batches of anti-pandemic aid for 89 countries and four international organizations, while the fifth batch of aid program was being developed.
March 27
-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to analyze the COVID-19 response and economic performance.
The meeting made new arrangements on coordinating the COVID-19 response and economic and social development.
China will deepen exchange and cooperation with the WHO and continue to provide assistance within its ability to other countries, according to the meeting.
-- Chinese President Xi Jinping talked over phone with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, stressing viruses respect no national borders, and only by cooperation and with a collective response can the international community prevail over them.
Xi said the G20 major economies should uphold the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and strengthen unity, coordination and cooperation to resolutely stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and stabilize the world economy with all their strength.
Xi noted that with the king's presiding, G20 leaders successfully held an extraordinary summit on COVID-19 on March 26, and reached important consensus on fighting the pandemic in solidarity and stabilizing the world economy, which has sent a positive signal to the international community.
Xi stressed that China is ready to maintain close communication with Saudi Arabia and strengthen the momentum of G20 cooperation.
-- Chinese President Xi Jinping talked over phone with U.S. President Donald Trump at request, stressing that China has been timely sharing information on COVID-19 in an open, transparent and responsible manner with the WHO and countries including the United States since the onset of the epidemic.
China, Xi said, wasted no time in releasing such information as the genetic sequence of the coronavirus, and has also been sharing experience on COVID-19 prevention, containment and treatment without reserve, and providing as much support and assistance as it can for countries in need.
Xi said China will continue to do so, and work with the international community to prevail over the pandemic.
-- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang talked over phone at request over the COVID-19 pandemic with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, and with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, respectively.
-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing announcing that the number of the close contacts under medical observation had been increasing for seven consecutive days, with the number reported on March 26 jumping 78 percent than that on March 19.
The combination of emergency and normalized measures should be improved to accurately prevent and control the domestic epidemic and take strict precautions against the virus spreading.
-- China’s NHC head Ma Xiaowei attended a COVID-19 pandemic information briefing held by the WHO, sharing experience of fighting against the virus and answering questions from other countries. More than 500 people from the countries like Russia, Brazil, Egypt and Qatar attended the online meeting.
March 28
-- A Chinese medical expert team carrying medical supplies arrived in Pakistan to help it fight COVID-19.
-- Invited by the European Respiratory Society, Wang Chen, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and also a medical specialist of respiratory and critical disease, attended a video connection and shared the health policies of the COVID-19 prevention and control with European physicians and health administrators.
