China Stands Ready With the World to Fight the Epidemic

中国愿携手各国早日战胜疫情

 

Ambassador Hong Xiaoyong Has a Signed Article  Published in The Straits Times

洪小勇大使在新加坡《海峡时报》发表署名文章

 

18 March 2020

2020年3月18日

 

Since January, the international community has been paying close attention to the coronavirus outbreak. Among the many reports and articles, some support and recognise China’s effort, while others doubt and smear. With the virus spreading worldwide, how to win the battle and restore normal social and economic life are now major concerns for all of us. I would like to share with readers some information on China’s situation.

从今年1月到现在，国际社会高度关注新冠肺炎疫情，有大量报道、评论，其中有对中国肯定和鼓励的声音，也有质疑和抹黑的言论。当前疫情在包括新加坡在内的许多国家蔓延，如何战胜疫情、维护社会经济秩序已成为国际社会关注焦点。关于中国抗击疫情情况，我愿在这里做些介绍。

 

Thanks to the Chinese people’s arduous efforts, the situation is improving significantly. Zero new confirmed cases have been found in the daily reports of most provinces. In Wuhan, the worst-hit city, the number of new confirmed cases has dropped to double digits and even single digits for several consecutive days. All 16 temporary hospitals in Wuhan have closed with their missions accomplished. Within less than two months, the epidemic in China has been brought under control. In a country with a huge population of 1.4 billion, these are not acts of miracle, but feats that could not have been achieved without the following factors.

经过中国人民团结一心、艰苦努力，目前中国疫情防控形势发生积极向好变化，取得阶段性重要成果。大部分省市每日新增病例为零，重灾区武汉每日新增病例连续多日低于两位数甚至达到个位数。武汉16家方舱医院已经休舱。在不到两个月时间里，中国疫情基本实现了可防可控可治的目标。在一个拥有14亿人口的大国里，取得这样的成绩并不容易，亦非偶然，离不开以下这些因素：

 

First, strong leadership. General Secretary Xi Jinping, the core of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has always made the safety of the people his top priority. He has been in full command and has led the battle against the epidemic since its outbreak. During the Spring Festival, the committee adopted an all-of-government and all-of-society approach to mobilise a nationwide response. General Secretary Xi chaired six meetings of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee within a month to direct and organise an unprecedented nation’s campaign against the virus. He also visited the anti-epidemic front line in Beijing and Wuhan. His great leadership strongly boosted the confidence and determination of the whole nation to overcome the epidemic.

 

第一，坚强的领导核心。习近平总书记作为全党领导核心，时刻牵挂着疫情形势，把人民群众生命安全和身体健康放在第一位，亲自指挥，亲自部署，带领全国人民打响疫情防控阻击战、总体战。春节期间党中央发起强大动员，全国上下、社会各界闻令而动，投身抗疫。习总书记在一个多月时间里6次主持召开中央政治局常委会会议，部署全国抗疫工作。习总书记还深入北京、亲临武汉，进行考察和慰问。习总书记的坚强领导极大地提振了全国人民战胜疫情的信心和决心。

 

The second factor is institutional strength. The Chinese government came up with a slogan that if Wuhan wins, Hubei wins, and if Hubei wins, China wins. Hubei and its provincial capital Wuhan, the hardest-hit areas in China, received full-scale support from across the country within a few days of the outbreak. More than 330 medical teams comprising some 41,600 medical workers were quickly dispatched to Hubei. Sixteen makeshift hospitals and two specialised ones were built, raising the number of hospital beds in Wuhan to 23,000 from 5,000. Nineteen provinces paired with the cities in Hubei to provide one-on-one support. Nearly 30 billion yuan (S$6 billion) and more than 500 million pieces of medical and other supplies were donated to Hubei from the rest of China. As a result, the initial acute lack of medical personnel and supplies in the area has been effectively alleviated. The efforts to leave no patients unattended have paid off as the number of new confirmed cases and fatalities in Wuhan has fallen dramatically. Meanwhile, the comprehensive nationwide measures to contain the epidemic in all provinces have also yielded sound results, with no new confirmed cases in the community reported for days and, in some places, for weeks.

第二，举国体制的制度优势。在战“疫”打响后不久，中国政府就提出“武汉胜则湖北胜，湖北胜则全国胜”。全国重点支援武汉和湖北，330多支医疗队、41600多名医护人员驰援湖北。短时间内改造建设专科和方舱医院18所，收治床位从5000多张增加到2.3万张。19个省份对口支援湖北各市。全国捐款近300亿元人民币，捐赠物资超过5亿件。湖北医护人员和物资紧缺的局面短时间内得到缓解。采取对患者应收尽收、应治尽治政策，武汉确诊和病亡人数迅速直线下降。与此同时，全国各地也以抗疫为重点，采取严密措施，进行有效防控和治疗。

Third, the perseverance and devotion of the Chinese people. The Spring Festival this year is unforgettable. In what has traditionally been a happy time for family reunions and other gatherings, the Chinese people, in response to the government’s call, stayed indoors, sacrificing their normal lives in order to contain the spread of the virus. People in Wuhan, in particular, have borne the biggest burden and paid the biggest price. In order to minimise the transmission of the virus, they have stayed at home for nearly 60 days since the eve of the Chinese New Year while social order and stability remain well maintained. Efforts made in containing the spread of the virus have contributed greatly to the government’s ability to render treatment to patients. It may be difficult for outsiders to imagine what hardship they have gone through. As General Secretary Xi pointed out during his inspection in Wuhan, the people of Wuhan are heroes and must go down in history for their part in the battle against the outbreak.

第三，全国人民的坚忍和付出。2020年春节对于中国人民来说是个非常难忘、特殊的春节。在这个原本走亲访友的团圆节日里，全国人民响应号召，足不出户，减少走动，自觉牺牲正常生活，极大地降低了病毒蔓延速度。全国人民为抗疫默默付出，武汉人民做出最多牺牲。为最大限度切断传播途径，他们至今已在家中坚守近60天，保持社会秩序稳定，为政府防控疫情蔓延做出重要贡献。他们的付出和艰辛，是没有经历过的人们无法体会的。正如习总书记考察武汉时所说，武汉不愧为英雄的城市，武汉人民不愧为英雄的人民，必将通过打赢这次抗击新冠肺炎疫情斗争再次被载入史册。

 

Civil servants, front-line workers and volunteers have endeavoured to provide daily life support and assistance for people staying at home. Medical staff have taken on the most arduous missions. Some of them got infected, and some even lost their lives. Ms She Sha, a 24-year-old nurse who volunteered to be deployed in Wuhan, touched many with her reason for doing so: “I am young, single and from Wenchuan.” “I’m from Wenchuan” – a simple phrase but one that speaks volumes of the sense of empathy and generosity that comes from a shared experience in disaster. Wenchuan in Sichuan province was the epicentre of the huge 2008 earthquake that left more than 87,000 people dead. Ms Li Hui, a Generation Z nurse, joined the battle in Wuhan without her parents’ knowledge and said she would donate her body to research should the worst happen. The outbreak of the epidemic in China has been effectively controlled in less than two months, behind which are countless ordinary but great stories.

许许多多普通中国人面对疫情做出的奉献和牺牲，生动诠释着中国力量和中国精神。无数党政干部、志愿者、各行各业工作者不辞辛劳，为禁足在家的市民提供生活服务保障。广大医务人员义无反顾、日夜奋战、救死扶伤，不少医务人员被感染，有的甚至献出了生命。24岁护士佘莎报名参战，理由是：年轻、单身、我是汶川人。这句“我是汶川人”尽显大爱相传，感动了无数人。95后护士李慧瞒着父母偷偷应征，表示如遭遇不幸将捐献遗体做研究攻破病毒。中国新冠肺炎疫情能在不到两个月时间里得到有效控制，背后有着无数这样平凡而伟大的故事。

 

Restoring the normal order of life and economic development is another priority of the government. As the overall situation continues to improve, different regions across the country are implementing different strategies to ensure orderly resumption of economic activities and social life. Low-risk areas have fully recovered and medium-risk areas are gradually going back to normal. So far, nearly 100 million migrant workers have made trans-provincial travel to return to their jobs. Thanks to adherence to proper prevention and control measures, the feared transmission of disease during travel did not materialise. While the number of people returning to work across the country has skyrocketed, the number of new confirmed cases has plummeted. Manufacturing capacity has been largely restored in many industries. For example, the daily production of urgently needed masks now exceeds 100 million.

恢复社会生活和经济发展是中国政府在不放松疫情防控的同时关心的重要问题。随着疫情防控形势持续向好，全国不同地区实行差异化策略，低风险地区全面恢复生产生活秩序，中风险地区有序复工复产，全国社会生产和经济运行正在逐步恢复正常。在这个过程中，有近亿人次跨省返岗复工。由于防控措施得当，一度令人担心的“复工感染”问题得以成功避免，全国各地在复工率直线上升的同时，新增确诊病例直线下降。很多领域产能已基本恢复，抗疫急需的口罩日产量已突破1亿只。

 

The impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on the Chinese economy is temporary and limited. The fundamentals sustaining sound economic growth remain unchanged, as do the factors underpinning high-quality development. With the Chinese government mobilising all resources and adopting a variety of measures, this year’s economic growth targets and the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects remain unchanged.

疫情不可避免地会对中国经济造成冲击，但这种影响是暂时的、也是有限的。中国经济韧性好、潜力足、回旋余地大，经济长期向好的基本面没有改变，支持中国经济高质量发展的要素条件没有改变。中国政府正在调集各种资源，采取各种方法，努力实现今年经济社会发展目标任务，实现全面建成小康社会的既定目标。

 

China will continue to embrace the world with open arms and strengthen international economic exchanges and cooperation. We are very pleased to see that Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry recently held video conferences with Chongqing and Suzhou to share views on promoting planned connectivity projects and expanding cooperation in various areas while combating the virus. The epidemic did not stop China-Singapore cooperation.

中国将继续以开放姿态拥抱世界，与各国加强经济交流合作，实现更大发展。我们很高兴地看到，近日新加坡贸工部与重庆、苏州举行视频工作对接会议，就推动互联互通项目、拓展公共卫生合作交换意见。面对疫情，中新合作没有停步。期待中新经贸往来恢复正常，再上台阶。

 

The Chinese government also attaches great importance to international cooperation. Since the outbreak, China has strengthened communication and coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the international community, shared the genetic sequences of the coronavirus in a timely manner and notified relevant parties of ongoing developments related to the epidemic. Recently, China dispatched teams of medical experts to Iran, Iraq and Italy, and held video conferences with health experts from many international organisations and countries. China also shared technical documents, including epidemic prevention and control measures, as well as diagnosis and treatment plans, with more than 100 countries around the world and over 10 international and regional organisations. In addition, the Chinese government has donated US$20 million (S$28 million) to the WHO and provided masks, medicine, protective suits and other supplies to countries fighting serious outbreaks. China will continue to provide support to the countries in need while battling the epidemic domestically.

抗疫国际合作是中国政府的重要课题。疫情发生后，中国同世卫组织和国际社会加强沟通协调，第一时间向世卫组织分享了病毒基因序列信息，及时向有关国家和地区通报疫情。近期，中国向伊朗、伊拉克、意大利派出医疗志愿团队，同多个国际组织和国家举行卫生专家视频会议，与全球100多个国家、10多个国际和地区组织分享疫情防控和诊疗方案等技术文件。中国政府向世卫组织捐款2000万美元，向许多疫情严重国家捐赠口罩、药品、防护服等防疫物资。我们将继续在全力抗击本国疫情的同时，向有需要的国家提供帮助。

 

The virus is the enemy to humankind, but it is by no means invincible. In response to transnational crises like Covid-19, what the world needs is trust and unity, not blaming or finger-pointing. The virus respects no borders, and no country can stay immune. This has once again highlighted that humankind is a community with a shared future. Only hand in hand can the world win the battle.

病毒是全人类的共同敌人，但绝不是不可战胜的。我们一贯主张，面对跨国公共危机，各国应相互信任、团结协作，而不是指责埋怨、破坏信任与合作。病毒的蔓延不分国界，病毒的防治不分国别。人类命运共同体的理念在这个问题上得到了充分的阐释。只有同舟共济，携手努力，才能早日战胜疫情。