A photo of Hao Tiedan (right) and his wife Zhang Saihong touches their daughter's hand at a hospital in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Tuesday. Hao Tiedan is a member of the third batch of a medical team in Shanxi that has left for Hubei yesterday to fight against the novel coronavirus. His daughter was born just two days ago. Farewell to his wife and newborn daughter, Hao knows his daughter will be proud of him when she grows up. — XINHUA/VNA Photo

Xiong Bo, Chinese Ambassador to Việt Nam

The sudden attack of acute respiratory infections caused by a new type of coronavirus has disheartened the Chinese people and the world. Currently, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, led by the Party’s General Secretary Xi Jinping, the Chinese people, in a united and co-operative spirit, have been fighting hard to prevent the spread of the epidemic.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has personally directed and assigned tasks for disease prevention and established a central committee to respond to the outbreak. China has applied the most comprehensive and stringent prevention measures on a global scale; fully mobilised resources from the government and the whole of society; carried out a campaign in which the entire population is asked to prevent the epidemic and prevent the spread of the disease. Among these, many measures have gone even beyond the standards of the "International Health Regulations".

China has promptly imposed an unprecedented lockdown in Wuhan and some areas with a relatively serious epidemic situation. After such a move, the number of confirmed cases in all regions has grown at a much lower speed compared to Hubei Province. Based on the current situation, Level 1 emergency response has been activated in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland. These provinces have also launched prevention measures, aimed at early detection, early diagnosis and isolation of infected or suspected cases.

The People's Liberation Army, emergency medical aid teams, epidemics materials and equipment, medical protective equipment, have been transported to the infected regions from all over the country. The transport system, including rail, road and aviation, quickly responded to the assigned tasks, opening a special priority road for the emergency task. Factories were rushing to restore the production of medical supplies. Workers have been sparing no efforts to work overtime for the production of drugs needed, as well as other supplies such as medical masks and protective clothing.

China has set up a scientific research team on the novel coronavirus, quickly launching an emergency science and technology research programme, focusing on a number of aspects including the traceability of viruses, mode of transmitting, building the animal pathology model, rapid immunoassay, optimal treatment plans for patients with serious symptoms, vaccine research and development.

Three new hospitals are erected in Hubei, including the 1,000-bed Dabieshan Regional Medical Centre in Huang Gang, which was put into full operation on January 28, as well as the Huoshenshan Hospital (with 1,000 beds and covering 34,000 square metres), within 10 days after plans for construction were made; and Leishenshan Hospital (with 1,500 beds and spanning 75,000 square meters) in Wuhan. The full operation of the three facilities will further enhance the local public health capacities.

The fact that China can apply such large-scale and high-intensity epidemic control measures in such a short period of time, fully demonstrates China's performance and responsibility. Faced with such a rapid outbreak, tens of thousands of doctors and health workers are working to protect the health and lives of the people. The current situation of the epidemic is preventable, controllable and curable.

Under the leadership of the Communist Party, the advantage of a socialist regime with Chinese characteristics has been fully promoted, based on the people, steadfast belief, mutual assistance, scientific disease prevention, accurate application of emergency measures, we strongly believe that China is capable of winning the battle against this epidemic.

China’s efforts not only aim at protecting the health and lives of the Chinese people, but also the health and lives of people all over the world. China has promptly and actively maintained informing the situation and developments of the epidemic control task through the WHO and the ASEAN Secretariat. This has demonstrated the responsibility of China towards the global community, of which world leaders have spoken highly of.

Recently, World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, when announcing that the epidemic caused by coronavirus constituted a global health emergency, also emphasised that “this declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China. On the contrary, WHO continues to have confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak”.

He also said there was no need for measures that “unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade” in trying to halt the spread of the virus. He also spoke highly of China’s effort in quickly isolating the virus and sharing its genetic sequence publicly, allowing health authorities around the world to study the virus and build diagnostic tests for it.

WHO also does not encourage any measures that limit travel and trade.

In an announcement released on January 30, the International Civil Aviation Organisation also called on its members to follow WHO’s recommendation on the epidemic situation.

We hope that countries fully respect the professional opinions of the World Health Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation, making decisions based on scientific evidence, increase exchanges and coordination, and continue to work together, so that we can win this global war against the epidemic.

China and Việt Nam are friendly neighbours. “A friend in need is a friend indeed ". Since the outbreak, Vietnamese leaders have sent their messages to Chinese leaders, appreciating the great efforts of the Party, the State and the Chinese people in the fight against the epidemic. The Government of Việt Nam also provided medical equipment worth US$500,000 to China and the Việt Nam Red Cross has mobilised aid worth $100,000. There are also other forms of assistance to help people along China's border provinces beat the disease. This clearly shows the spirit of mutual support in times of need. China is very thankful for this. We are ready to continue working with countries including Việt Nam to maintain close contacts, enhance international co-operation, support one another to overcome difficulties at this time and ensure public health security in the region and in the world.