China acknowledges Pakistan’s support, says will never forget help of global community

ISLAMABAD - Acknowledging Pakistan’s support against the Covid-19 outbreak, Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson Friday said that China will never forget the political support and material donations provided to China by the international community at the time when China’s new corona pneumonia epidemic was at its worst.

During the time when China’s medical supplies were most scarce, a Pakistani special transport plane arrived in China on February 1 and sent valuable medical supplies, Geng Shuang said during his regular briefing.

He said after the outbreak in Pakistan, the Chinese government immediately assisted Pakistan with supplies such as testing reagents, masks, protective clothing, and will actively support the Pakistani side in building an isolated hospital.
“Relevant provinces and cities in China also donated masks to Islamabad and Karachi,” he added.

The spokesperson said at present, China was also extending assistance to countries affected by the epidemic, adding, “We have made efforts in four main areas: First, in terms of intergovernmental assistance, the Chinese government has announced assistance to 82 countries, WHO and the AU, Including testing reagents, masks, protective clothing, etc., many batches of aid materials have been delivered to the recipient.”

Second, in terms of medical technology cooperation, China shared its diagnosis and treatment programs with countries around the world, held video conferences with health experts from many countries and international organizations, and dispatched medical expert groups to Iran, Iraq, and Italy, he added.

Geng Shuang said, third, in terms of local government assistance, relevant Chinese local governments had donated materials to cities in South Korea, Japan, Italy, and other countries. Fourth, in terms of non-governmental assistance, many Chinese enterprises and non-governmental organizations had begun to provide donations to relevant countries.

He said that South Korea was one of the first countries to donate anti-epidemic materials to China.

After the Korean epidemic became worse, the Chinese government assisted South Korea with medical supplies such as masks and protective clothing. More than 20 local governments donated masks, protective clothing, goggles, testing reagents, thermometers, and other materials.

He said that Italy had expressed political solidarity and provided material support for China to fight the epidemic.
After the epidemic in Italy was severe, the Chinese government and several local governments had donated medical supplies to Italy.

“We have already sent two groups of medical experts, and we are about to send the third batch. I just learned that the China Silk Road Fund has decided to donate 20,000 N95 masks and 20,000 test reagents to the Italian Civil Protection Agency and the Lombardy Region Government,” he added.