News
Adaptation is the key feature of China’s policy against COVID-19
On New Year’s Eve, Chinese President XI Jinping, in his New Year’s speech for 2023, saluted all nationals, as well as friends and people in the world, claiming that since COVID-19 hit, China has overcome unprecedented difficulties and challenges. China has entered a new phase of COVID response where major challenges remain. Everyone stands with great steadfastness and the light of hope stands right before us.
After three years of fighting the pandemic, the whole world is much more convinced that the virus is the common enemy of all people. Until now, the coronavirus still lurks around the world, with far-reaching social, economic and political consequences in several countries, and also with its sub-variants, such as Omicron, found in many countries, including China.
From the very beginning of its response to the pandemic, China has pursued responsible policies based on a science-based and focused approach, putting people and their lives above all else and adapting measures dynamically and proactively. It has been proven and widely recognized that China’s COVID response policy over the past three years has achieved the goal of achieving the best results at the lowest cost.
In the past three years, China has provided maximum protection to the population. China has done its utmost to protect the life and health of its 1.4 billion people and has used every resource to treat every patient, whether its own nationals or foreigners living in the country. China has effectively responded to five global waves of COVID and avoided widespread infections with the original strain and the Delta variant, which are relatively more pathogenic than the currently spreading variants. Globally, China has the lowest infection and death rates. Despite the pandemic, the average life expectancy in China has increased from 77.93 years in 2020 to 78.2 years in 2021.
In the past three years, China has witnessed the stability of its economy and also its supply chain to the world. One of the main focuses of China’s COVID policy is minimizing the impact of the pandemic on economic and social development. With the concerted efforts of the entire country, China’s economy has managed to consolidate its resilience and maintain sound fundamentals, making it a reliable engine of global economic growth. The country’s GDP grew at an average annual rate of 4.6% from the third quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2022, which is well above the world average, according to data released by the OECD. Besides, China has also led the world in terms of trade volume, commodity production and energy production, and has kept its inflation rate at a relatively low level. The basic life of the Chinese was guaranteed during the pandemic. Despite a global food crisis, China achieved a record harvest in 2022 for the 19th consecutive year.
In the past three years, China has witnessed large-scale vaccination internally. China’s efficient response policy has gained valuable time for researching and developing vaccines and medicines, and increasing the vaccination coverage of the entire population. Since last December, more than 3.46 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in mainland China, with more than 90% of the population fully vaccinated. However, due to the fact that most of the vaccination was done a year ago, it is difficult for a large part of the Chinese population to maintain a high level of immunity against various mutant strains. Recently, the second booster shot campaign has moved forward nationwide, with a special focus on the elderly and those with serious underlying health conditions.
In the past three years, China has promoted strong international solidarity. Since the onset of COVID-19, China has actively participated in the international response. China shared the genome sequence of the virus as soon as possible and made important contributions to drug and vaccine research around the world. Competent authorities in China have maintained regular contacts with WHO, held dialogues with partner countries to exchange technical experiences, and shared information in a timely, open and transparent manner in accordance with the law, aiming for a speedy global victory over the pandemic . Meanwhile, to strengthen global defenses, China has provided anti-pandemic materials to 153 countries and 15 international organizations, sent medical expert groups to 34 countries, and offered more than 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations .
In the last quarter of 2022, China adjusted and refined its response policy in line with a changing landscape of viral contagion. This shift is scientifically substantiated, timely and necessary. It took full account of the much less pathogenic and deadly status of the globally spreading Omicron variant, as well as progress that China’s treatment, testing and vaccination capacity is steadily increasing, and would focus its response from preventing infection to take care of health and prevent serious cases.
According to this adjustment, persons infected with the coronavirus will no longer be quarantined and their close contacts will no longer be traced. In addition, China is one step closer to full opening to the outside world as domestic and foreign airlines will operate scheduled passenger flights, with flight limits no longer applicable, including closed management, nucleic acid testing and quarantine measures.
Countries that adjust COVID policies invariably go through a period of adjustment. China is no exception. However, the current COVID situation in China remains generally predictable and under control as many cities have experienced the spike. This adjustment by China is also important from a strategic and long-term perspective, to effectively coordinate the COVID response with economic and social development. US, British, German and other foreign chambers of commerce in China praise this downgrade adjustment, noting that it paves the way for the resumption of people-to-people exchange and business travel, and increases foreign investor confidence in the Chinese market.
What we need to be much more vigilant about compared to the natural virus is the political virus. Since many international health experts indicate that the main variant now spreading in China is the same as that found in other countries, it makes no sense to impose additional restrictions on travelers from China. The political manipulation of COVID response measures by a few countries would only bring chaos to the world’s sense of solidarity. In this regard, we deeply commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for its science-based and proportionate COVID response measures, which has been evident from the very beginning of its response.
The light of hope for ultimate victory over the pandemic is right in front of us. Just as President Xi called out during his New Year’s address: “Let us make an extra effort to persevere, because perseverance and solidarity mean victory.”
Cui Jianchun is the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria.
Zenith Bank Yet To Resolve allegations Of Forged Account Statement, Complaints Of Missing Share Dividends By Aquitane Oil And Gas
The Journey To Self-Actualization: Harnessing The Power Of Self-Love — Empress Mo
Simon Ekpa Arrested In Finland Over Terrorism Activities
How To Apply For PDP Membership E-Registration And All What You Should Know.
Senator Gbenga Daniel: The Face Of Performance At The 10th Senate In Year 2023 — The Journey So Far
Brief Biography Of Aare Adetola Emmanuelking Chairman/CEO, Adron Homes & Properties Ltd That You Need To Know
Watch Video Of How Passengers Was Assaulted By Police For Allegedly Refusing To Comply To Withdraw Illegal Money For Them
Watch Full Video; Reno Omokri Publicly Apologizing To Peter Obi
The tremendous importance of owning a perfect piece of clothing
