BRAVING CHALLENGES AND STRIVING FOR NEW PROSPECTS

Tomorrow marks the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, the sudden onslaught of COVID-19 and the fast-evolving changes unseen in a century have brought human beings to another crossroads of history. It is imperative for the international community to embark on the journey with firm consensus.
Faced with a pandemic unseen in a century, the Chinese people have proved themselves through a united war against COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic that broke out early this year is the most serious global public health emergency since the end of World War II. China, the first country hit by the virus, faced the challenge head on. During the epidemic, the Chinese government always puts people’s life and health front and center. Thanks to the concerted and all-out efforts of the people of all ethnic groups and through the most comprehensive, stringent and thorough epidemic control measures, China has succeeded in turning the situation around. In little more than a single month, the rising spread of the virus was contained; in around two months, the daily increase in domestic coronavirus cases had fallen to single digits; and in approximately three months, a decisive victory was secured in the battle to defend Hubei Province and its capital city of Wuhan. Following a people-first approach and putting saving lives above all else, the Chinese government rallied 346 national medical teams, consisting of more than 42,000 medical workers, to the immediate aid of Wuhan. From newborns to centenarians, it never leaves out any infected person and never gives up on any patient. In this way, China eventually achieved strategic results in its battle against COVID-19.
Faced with a pandemic unseen in a century, the Chinese people have come together in solidarity with other peoples, which reflected China’s status as a major responsible country. Even while under the tremendous pressure of coronavirus control, the Chinese government actively responded to the UN-initiated Global Humanitarian Response Plan: a cash donation of US $50 million to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, by launching a global campaign of emergency humanitarian assistance, the most intensive one of a scale unseen since the founding of the PRC, China has sent out 34 medical teams to 32 countries and provided 283 batches of medical supplies to 150 countries and four international organizations. For Africa, the supplies shipped by China to 53 African countries and the African Union badly in need have surpassed 400 tons. 46 resident Chinese medical teams in Africa, including one in Sudan, remained steadfast to their posts and threw themselves into local epidemic prevention and control. From May 28 to June 11, 2020, the medical expert team sent by the Chinese side worked in Sudan to assist with its battle against the virus. Going forward, China will establish a cooperation mechanism pairing up Chinese hospitals with 30 hospitals in African countries including Sudan. The China-aid construction of the African CDC headquarters contemplated under the agreement signed by China and the African Union is scheduled to kick off by the end of this year. China-Africa Cooperation has served as an important guarantee for Africa’s victory over COVID-19, providing certainty to bring COVID-19 under control in Africa.
China is currently working with 11 countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Morocco, Brazil and Indonesia on the Phase III clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines. The fact that four among the nine vaccine candidates at Phase III trial stage worldwide are developed by China further demonstrates the effectiveness and safety of Chinese vaccines. So far, the UAE, among other countries, has approved emergency use of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, casting their vote of confidence in vaccines developed by China. As Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced, COVID-19 vaccines developed by China, when available, will be made a global public good that is universally available to the world. President Xi also pledged that once the development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines is completed in China, African countries will be among the first to benefit. China is the first and only country that has made this solemn commitment to the world.
Faced with a pandemic unseen in a century, the Chinese people have stayed true to their original aspirations and continue pursuing development and honoring their commitment. Despite the serious impact of COVID-19 on China’s economic development, the Chinese economy has demonstrated great resilience and enormous potential, as the country coordinates epidemic control and economic and social development. The second quarter has seen a rebound in its GDP, and major economic indexes of the recent months have indicated a steady recovery. According to a new forecast by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), China will be the only major economy to see positive economic growth this year. The Chinese government’s commitment to lifting all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty within this year remains unchanged, which means that China will meet the poverty eradication target set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of schedule. Eliminating extreme poverty, a dream of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, is about to become a reality. The Chinese people are getting closer to the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. At present, China is working to foster a new, dual-cycle development architecture with the domestic cycle as the mainstay and with domestic and international development reinforcing each other. This will surely make China’s self-development and opening-up move on to a new stage.
Looking at the world at large, major changes never seen in a century are taking place in our world. We all face the test of both headwinds against economic globalization and unilateralism and bullying practices.
Faced with the changes unseen in a century, China remains committed to integrating itself into the ocean of world economy. At the critical moment as the COVID-19 pandemic takes a toll on the global economy, China stays as an anchor of peace and stability for the global economy and goes all out to safeguard the stable, secure and smooth operation of international industrial and supply chains. Proposals including Belt and Road cooperation made by China, aimed at building development platforms for all parties and sharing development opportunities with them, will spur the recovery of the world economy and shore up the confidence in global development. The China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), the China International Fair for Trade in Services and the China International Import Expo scheduled in this autumn form the multi-faceted and three-dimensional platform for international economic and trade exchange and cooperation that is badly needed at the time being, which is the most telling sign that China stays committed to sharing its development opportunities amid the pandemic. Undoubtedly, this will be highly meaningful for the world economy in that not a few western multinational companies count on their good sales performance in China to cancel out some of their losses incurred in other regions. In the first half of this year, the trade volume between China and Sudan grew by 16.8% to US $1.62 billion, bucking the trend of global slowdown. Amid the pandemic, over 1,100 cooperation programs operated by China in Africa continued to function. In the meantime, China announced that within the FOCAC framework, it will cancel the debt of relevant African countries in the form of interest-free government loans that are due to mature by the end of 2020 and work with the international community to offer greater support to African countries.
Faced with the changes unseen in a century, China unequivocally upholds multinationalism. For the three quarters of a century since its founding, the UN, as the utmost expression of multilateralism, has traveled an extraordinary journey. Not long ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed via video link at the High-level Meeting to Commemorate the 75th UN Anniversary, “China will firmly uphold the UN-centered international system, firmly uphold the international order underpinned by international law, and firmly defend the UN’s central role in international affairs”. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China always advances toward a sound UN-centered global governance system and insists that international affairs be addressed through consultation among us all. It has been working with the rest of the world under the UN framework on improving the global governance system through consultation, so as to build a community of a shared future for mankind with global partners. As the first country to sign on the UN Charter, China remains steadfast in observance of the UN Charter. It defends the international order underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and opposes any attempt to turn back the clock of history, such as hegemonism and power politics. As the largest developing country in the world, China firmly supports the role of the UN as the most important platform to practice multilateralism. To maintain world peace and safeguard human development, it serves as a task force in addressing global issues ranging from dealing with climate change to combating terrorism. By taking active steps to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it has realized its 2020 target for reducing carbon emissions ahead of schedule. Moreover, China has dispatched the largest number of “blue helmets” among five permanent members of the UN Security Council. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly praised China’s role as a pillar of international cooperation and multilateralism.
As a Chinese saying goes, “it is in times of hardship that bravery and perseverance arise”. In the face of a pandemic and major changes not seen in a century, humanity needs to make a critical choice, a choice between progress and regression, between solidarity and division, and between openness and seclusion. We firmly believe that just as rainbows commonly occur together with storms, China and Sudan are sure to seize the initiative in turning adversity into opportunities and collectively cope with risks and challenges to achieve common development and progress.