PRESIDENT Xi Jinping yesterday chaired the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 in Beijing.

    The summit, held via video link, was jointly proposed by China, South Africa, the rotating chair of the African Union (AU), and Senegal, the co-chair of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

    Leaders of African countries, including members of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government and rotating chairs of major African sub-regional organizations, and the chairperson of the AU Commission, attended the summit.

    The secretary-general of the United Nations and the director-general of the World Health Organization also attended the meeting as special guests.

    The virtual summit comes as the latest testimony to the two sides’ steady commitment to weathering the coronavirus challenge with cooperation and solidarity, which is exactly what they have been doing over recent months.

    When China was deep in the depths of its own fight against the virus, many African countries rushed to the aid of the Chinese people, delivering urgently needed medical supplies and sending warm-hearted messages.

    The Morocco-based Bank of Africa, for instance, donated 150,000 surgical masks and 900,000 medical gloves to China’s Hubei Province in early February, while the African Union (AU) became the first major regional organization to express solidarity with China.

    China has also extended a helping hand to the continent. So far, China has sent much-needed supplies to over 50 African countries and the AU, dispatched medical experts and shared its anti-epidemic experience via video conferences.

    Since the outbreak, Chinese medical teams have conducted some 400 coronavirus-related training sessions in Africa and have trained 20,000 local medical workers. According to a communique issued Saturday by the AU, China has ensured the supply of 30 million testing kits, 10,000 ventilators and 80 million masks each month for Africa, a “significant contribution.”

    Additionally, Xi has repeatedly conveyed his sympathy and support via phone conversations with South African, Egyptian, Namibian and many other African leaders.

    And more support is on the way. Speaking at the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly, Xi said China will establish a cooperation mechanism for its hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals; accelerate the building of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters to help the continent ramp up its disease preparedness and control capacity  and make COVID-19 vaccines, when available, a global public good.

    Moreover, China has also been backing Africa’s economic reopening. Apart from actively participating in an initiative endorsed by the Group of 20 to suspend debt service payments for the world’s poorest countries, it has also helped boost the trading of Africa’s major economic commodities on the global market.

    (Xinhua)