"The year 2020 will inevitably go down in history. COVID-19, which suddenly erupted and swept the world, leads to disaster in more than 200 countries and regions. So far, the total number of infected people has exceeded 3.4 million, while the number of deaths stands for more than 240 thousand. Fight against the epidemic becomes a priority for all countries that challenge the system and management capabilities of each of them. Moreover, each of us lives this story and has witnessed history".
China's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Guo Min told Report.
The Ambassador recalled that China was the first to suffer from the COVID-19 pandemic and the first to start the fight to prevent and control it. "In more than three months of hard work, with tremendous efforts and dedication, China has won a huge phased victory in the fight against the pandemic. While fighting coronavirus domestically, China continues to assist more than 140 countries and international organizations in providing medical supplies and sending teams of medical experts to more than 20 countries around the world. It actively restores the economy based on the overall state of global economic development, helping to remove trade barriers to avoid a deep depression of the world economy. China also fully supports the World Health Organization to play a leading, coordinating role and provide a platform for authoritative dialogue in the field of global public health."
According to Ambassador, China and Azerbaijan support each other and closely cooperate on the bilateral and multilateral levels, making a significant contribution to promoting international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic and protecting the interests of world security and development."
"At the bilateral level, the governments and peoples of China and Azerbaijan fought side by side, providing mutual support in various ways. The leaders of the two countries sent letters of condolence to each other, exchanged experience in preventing and controlling the pandemic, provided material assistance. All these demonstrate a high level of political mutual trust, deep traditional friendship, and a common development concept between the two countries. In the international arena, Azerbaijan, together with China, supports the principle of multilateralism and actively participates in international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19."
Guo Min recalled that Azerbaijan provided financial support to WHO in the amount of $ 5 million, transferred anti-epidemic funds to Iran, Georgia, and other countries. The country expressed support, respect, and reverence to the peoples of China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Russia, and others, where COVID-19 widely spread. Heydar Aliyev Center has displayed the flags of China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Spain, Russia, Turkey, and the UK as a symbol of Azerbaijan's solidarity with the countries where the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is widespread. On April 10, at the initiative and under the chairmanship of President Ilham Aliyev, an emergency Summit of the Turkic Council was held by video conference, which discussed measures to combat COVID-19 by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Hungary. Moreover, on the initiative of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as Chairman of the Non - Aligned Movement, a video conference of the Contact Group of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) entitled "We stand together against COVID-19", took place on May 4.
"The measures mentioned above clearly reflect the responsibility of Azerbaijan as the leading country in the South Caucasus, and China highly appreciates this," the Chinese Ambassador said.
"If we unite, there are no obstacles and difficulties that cannot be overcome. United cooperation is the most powerful weapon of the international community to defeat the COVID-19 epidemic. China is ready, under the leadership and coordination of WHO, to work closely with the international community, including Azerbaijan, and continue to share Chinese wisdom and Chinese projects in the fight against COVID-19 in protecting the life safety and health of people around the world and promoting the further development of global public health. In conclusion, I would like to wish that the fraternal Azerbaijani people, under the firm leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, will overcome the coronavirus as soon as possible and achieve social and economic prosperity."