Chronicle of Xi's leadership in China's war against coronavirus

GLOBAL FIGHT

The virus respects no borders. From a luxurious cruise ship docking in Japan to a ski resort in the French Alps, from Casablanca's ancient city to downtown Manhattan and the Amazon rainforest, the pandemic has spread all over the world.

By Sept 6, global COVID-19 cases had exceeded 26 million in more than 210 countries and regions, leaving over 870,000 people dead, according to the WHO tally.

Xi said public health security is a common challenge for humanity, which requires joint efforts from all countries.

This is in the spirit of building a community with a shared future for humanity, a vision put forward by Xi in 2013. Over the past seven years, he has been promoting the vision on the international stage. Amid the global anti-virus fight, the importance of this vision has been made clear to all.

On Jan 7, Chinese scientists isolated the first novel coronavirus strain. On Jan 12, the WHO acknowledged receiving the coronavirus full genome sequence from China.

Tedros said China identified the pathogen in record time and shared the genetic sequence with the WHO and other countries. This bought invaluable time for other regions around the world to gear up their response.

China also informed the United States of the outbreak in early January. A U.S. virus hunter came to China in late January to help battle the epidemic.

When China was bearing the full brunt of COVID-19's wrath, leaders of over 170 countries and 50 international and regional organizations expressed their support. A total of 77 countries and 12 international organizations provided assistance.

China fought the virus with openness and transparency as press conferences were held daily, sometimes several times a day, starting from Jan 26.

Amid the epidemic, Xi met with Tedros, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga, and Pakistani President Arif Alvi in Beijing. Through video link, Xi met with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Xi wrote back to Tedros and Bill Gates and exchanged letters with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh.

Xi exchanged verbal messages with Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Xi sent a verbal message to Pakistani President Arif Alvi and exchanged messages with Bounnhang Vorachith, general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and president of Laos.

Xi also sent a congratulatory letter to the ninth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, urging efforts to advance cooperation in various fields including the pandemic response.

Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, Xi has conducted unprecedented "telephone diplomacy," having more than 60 phone conversations with over 50 foreign leaders.

These included those from Western countries such as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron; those from emerging-market countries -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa; and those from developing countries like Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

In the talks, Xi said this global public health emergency has driven home the urgent need to build a community with a shared future for humanity. It is only by working together that countries around the world can overcome the pandemic, he said.

As the virus spread, some countries and regions were hit particularly hard. Xi sent messages to their leaders, expressing sympathy.

"Unity is strength;" "Building a community of health for all" -- these have been his messages to the world.

In late March, at an extraordinary G20 summit held via video link, Xi called for resolutely fighting an all-out global war against the COVID-19 outbreak, devising a collective response for control and treatment at the international level, supporting international organizations and enhancing international macroeconomic policy coordination to prevent a recession.

Kuhn, the U.S. scholar, said Xi's proposals to enable humanity as a whole to win the battle against this major infectious disease give meaning to the vision of an international community with a shared future.

COVID-19 has become the worst global public health incident since the end of World War II.

In May, at the World Health Assembly's opening held via video link, Xi mourned for every life lost to COVID-19 and expressed condolences to the bereaved families. He announced China's five measures to support the global COVID-19 fight.

Xi said China will make its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good when available, contributing to vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries.

In June, Xi chaired an extraordinary China-Africa summit on solidarity against COVID-19 via video conference and called for staying committed to fighting COVID-19 together, enhancing China-Africa cooperation, upholding multilateralism and taking China-Africa friendship forward.

"We oppose the politicization and stigmatization of COVID-19, and we oppose racial discrimination and ideological bias. We stand firm for equity and justice in the world," Xi said.

Whether it is taming the virus or achieving economic recovery, the world cannot succeed without solidarity, cooperation and multilateralism, Xi said in a message to a high-level video conference on Belt and Road international cooperation.

The right approach to tackling global crises and realizing long-term development is through greater connectivity, openness and inclusiveness. This is where Belt and Road international cooperation can make a big difference, he said.

At the start of the outbreak, China helped countries like the United States and Japan evacuate their nationals from Wuhan. As the pandemic spread, China donated funds to the WHO totaling 50 million U.S. dollars and sent 33 medical expert teams to 31 countries from late February to the end of August.

The Chinese government has sent much-needed medical supplies to over 150 countries and international organizations and facilitated foreign procurement in China. Non-governmental organizations and companies also gave a helping hand.

Hassan Ahmadian, assistant professor of Middle East and North Africa studies at the University of Tehran, said China's donations and exchange of expertise with affected countries, including Iran, stand out not only as a humanitarian gesture but also as responsible behavior on the part of a major country.

China has shared technical documents on treatment protocols and containment strategies with 180 countries and over 10 international and regional organizations. Beginning in March, Chinese experts held almost daily video conferences with their foreign peers. China's pioneering use of makeshift hospitals has also been adopted around the world, including in New York's iconic Central Park.

Xi had four phone calls with Putin in as many months. Putin said by providing timely assistance to other countries affected by COVID-19, China has set an example for the international community and responded, loud and clear, to the provocation and stigmatization by some country. Putin also said Russia will stand firmly by China's side.

RISE ABOVE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

Xi said national rejuvenation would not come easy and great struggles must be fought to realize the great dream.

The epidemic brought severe challenges to the world's largest developing country, but showed the importance of following its own path and adhering to reform and opening up.

Initially, medical materials were in short supply and weak links in hospital protection led to infections among health workers. Practices of bureaucratism and formalities for formalities' sake were exposed at local levels.

While fighting the coronavirus as the most pressing task, Xi pushed for building institutions with a long-term impact.

Last year, the fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee adopted a decision on institution building. Xi said China must use the strength of its institutions to cope with risks and challenges.

"The epidemic was a big test for China's system and capacity for governance," Xi said bluntly. "We must draw experience and learn our lessons."

He said the exposed shortcomings told of the need to improve the national emergency management system and boost the nation's ability to handle urgent and challenging tasks.

In February, Xi demanded efforts to strengthen public health legislation, reform the disease prevention and control system, and improve public health services when he chaired a meeting of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform.

Two months later, the commission's meeting adopted documents on the provision of public health emergency supplies and on oversight of medical insurance funds.

During the "two sessions," when joining deliberations with lawmakers from Hubei, Xi stressed fortifying the public health protection network.

Several priorities were in the spotlight: reform the disease prevention and control system; boost epidemic monitoring, early warning and emergency response capacity; advance the treatment system for major epidemics; improve public health emergency laws and regulations; and carry out patriotic public health campaigns.

The COVID-19 pandemic is dealing a heavy blow to the world economy. More than four out of every five people in the global workforce of 3.3 billion have been affected by full or partial workplace closures, according to a report by the International Labour Organization in early April.

Xi told a symposium on economic and social work that the pandemic will accelerate the profound changes the world is undergoing, changes unseen in a century.

The Chinese economy shrank 6.8 percent in the first quarter. On the day the statistics were released, Xi chaired a leadership meeting that pointed out the first quarter of 2020 was "extremely unusual." The sudden COVID-19 outbreak had an unprecedented impact on China's economic and social development.

On dealing with the impact on the economy, Xi said: "We must stay confident and not be frightened by problems and difficulties."

"I have said many times that China is a big country with enormous resilience, huge potential and great flexibility in development," he added.

Xi said at the "two sessions" that China has set no specific target for economic growth this year as the sudden COVID-19 outbreak has created challenges to completing the tasks in this final year of the 13th Five-Year Plan.

He emphasized the importance of maintaining stable and sound economic performance in the long run, and devised a series of strategic measures including the creation of a new development pattern in which domestic and foreign markets boost each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay.

Since early February, Xi has been giving instructions on stabilizing the economy.

From March to August, he visited villages, rural families and businesses on inspection tours to coordinate regular epidemic control with economic and social development.

In Zhejiang province, Xi chatted with workers by an assembly line, asking if their return to work had gone smoothly, particularly if they had received their paychecks. He demanded the prices of daily necessities and the income of farmers remain stable.

In Shaanxi province, he encouraged companies to overcome the negative impact of COVID-19 and actively expand markets. In the village of Jinmi, Xi lauded the local black fungus industry. This went viral online, and 20 million people visited the e-commerce sites, where over 20 tonnes of black fungus were sold out in quick succession.

In Shanxi province, Xi called on businesses to make up for lost time with the proper safety precautions in place.

In Ningxia Hui autonomous region, he said no ethnic minority group should be left behind in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. He also urged efforts to maintain epidemic control measures while accelerating the return to normalcy in people's daily lives.

In Jilin province, Xi took a particular interest in the employment of college graduates and migrant workers and ordered Party committees and governments at all levels to actively create favorable conditions for college graduates to find jobs.

The Chinese economy bounced back to growth in the second quarter of 2020, expanding 3.2 percent year on year. Major indicators returned to growth, economic performance steadily recovered and market expectations were positive in general.

Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, also grew 8.4 percent year on year in the second quarter, indicating foreign investors' growing confidence in the Chinese market.

By mid-April, over 99 percent of major industrial enterprises in China had reopened. They included foreign companies and their local suppliers like Apple, Tesla and Volkswagen.

Writing back to Global CEO Council members' representatives in July, Xi said those CEOs had made the right choice by staying rooted in China.

Six days later, when he attended a symposium with entrepreneurs, Xi said: "We must shore up confidence, rise up to challenges, work hard to recover the loss caused by COVID-19, and strive for good economic development for the whole year."

The spring and summer of 2020 represent an unusual chapter in the Chinese nation's journey toward rejuvenation.

Under Xi's leadership, the Chinese people are united to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. With epidemic control measures in place, China has secured a bumper summer grain harvest, overcome floods and made solid progress to eliminate poverty. In the meantime, China, as a major and responsible country, is actively advancing global cooperation against the pandemic. During this process, China's socialist system has demonstrated its strengths.

In this extraordinary year, Xi has taken on great responsibility, firmly fulfilled his commitment to the people, and worked hard to eradicate poverty and achieve a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

"The Chinese nation has experienced many hardships in its history, but it has never been weighed down. Instead, it has grown stronger and stronger through trials and tribulations," Xi said.