On April 8, in a letter addressed to H.E. Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations and all Permanent Representatives and Permanent Observers to the United Nations, Ambassador Zhang Jun introduced China’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s cooperation with the international community with detailed facts and figures.

The letter outlines major actions and important experience of China in the fight against COVID-19. Under the strong leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Government has taken the most comprehensive, the strictest and the most thorough prevention and control measures to combat the outbreak. China has introduced “early detection, early reporting, early isolation and early treatment” as the guidelines for prevention and control and the approach of admitting patients in severe conditions to facilities where the best resources and professionals are pooled, the effectiveness of which have been proven. China has mobilized medical workers across the country to support Hubei Province. A total of 346 medical teams of more than 42,600 medical workers have been sent. Two special hospitals were built within 10 days respectively and 16 temporary hospitals converted from public venues were built in Wuhan, demonstrating China’s speed and effectiveness. With tenacious efforts, zero new confirmed cases in the mainland of China was reported for the first time on March 18. Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government and with tremendous sacrifice, 1.4 billion Chinese people have united together in the fight against the pandemic, and achieved important periodic results in 83 days.

The letter illustrates in detailed China’s open, transparent and responsible attitude toward the pandemic. Since the cases of pneumonia of unknown cause were first detected in Wuhan City on December 27, 2019, China immediately conducted investigation and pathogen identification. From January 3, China has been giving timely updates about the pneumonia outbreak to the World Health Organization(WHO) and foreign countries, including the United States, and sharing the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus. China received the field visit by the China-WHO joint expert team. China’s National Health Commission updated the epidemic information on a daily basis. Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council of China, 65 press conferences had been held on a wide range of topics, including epidemic prevention and control, treatment, and scientific research. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held briefings and provided updates to diplomatic missions in China.

The letter also demonstrates the enormous contribution China made to the international cooperation against the pandemic. As of March 31, the Chinese government had provided material assistance, including medical masks, N95 masks, protective suits, nucleic acid testing reagent and ventilators, to 120 countries and four international organizations. Local governments have donated medical supplies to more than 50 countries. And the Chinese businesses have donated medical supplies to more than 100 countries and international organizations. As of April 7, China had sent 11 medical expert teams to nine countries, including Italy, Serbia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Venezuela and the Philippines. Some provinces of China also sent medical expert teams abroad. China is sharing all of its experience with the international community. Technical documents such as prevention and control protocols and diagnosis treatment protocols have been shared with more than 100 countries and more than 10 international and regional organizations. China has established an online knowledge center on COVID-19 and a pool of experts for international cooperation, and held more than 40 virtual technical meetings with over 100 countries and regions. China has decided to donate 20 million US dollars to the WHO to support its international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19.

At the end of the letter, Ambassador Zhang Jun states that defeating COVID-19 requires all member states to strengthen confidence, take concrete actions in a responsible manner, respect science and facts, and address the challenge with solidarity and collaboration. China resolutely rejects any discrimination or stigmatization against states, peoples or individuals. In the face of this tremendous test on humankind, the international community must collectively fight the pandemic to ensure a better future shared by all.