China-Africa: Joint COVID-19 fight brings closer cooperation

BEIJING, April 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — A news report by China.org.cn on China–Africa cooperation during COVID-19 outbreak:

Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Africa are once again standing shoulder to shoulder during these difficult times.

Two weeks ago, the Chinese government sent its first group of medical experts to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso to support Africa in its fight against the pandemic. Many of them had only recently finished their work on the frontlines in China.

Since March this year, the government, private enterprises and civil society groups in China have been donating much-needed supplies to African countries including ventilators, testing kits, N95 masks and protective gear. Chinese and African government officials and think tank experts have also held multiple video conferences to share information and experience in combating the epidemic. In the meantime, Chinese medical teams stationed across Africa have organized various training and healthcare activities to help locals improve their capabilities in pandemic prevention and control.

Due to the close cooperation and friendly ties between China and Africa, the interaction between China and African countries during the pandemic has attracted considerable attention.

Although Africa is not the epicenter of COVID-19, the continent may be hit hardest by the raging pandemic, considering its already struggling economy, fragile healthcare systems and limited medical capacity. According to a report by the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic will likely kill at least 300,000 Africans, and risks pushing 27 million into extreme poverty. This means that Africa is in urgent need of large-scale humanitarian assistance.

Since China sent its first medical team to Algeria in 1963, China–Africa cooperation in healthcare has been underway for more than half a century. During this period, China has dispatched over 20,000 medical workers and provided medical and healthcare assistance for over 50 African countries. In particular, during the Ebola outbreak, China sent 1,000 medical workers and experts to affected areas in Africa, and provided emergency assistance worth 750 million yuan.

At the height of China’s struggle against the COVID-19 outbreak, African people, from leaders to ordinary citizens, voiced their support for China and even managed to provide donations. In Wuhan, some African students worked as volunteers, whilst others wrote an open letter praying for China.

Therefore, after the COVID-19 slowed down across China, China has provided various forms of aid to help Africa fight the pandemic. This assistance is not only out of humanitarianism, but also because of the friendship between China and Africa.

China and Africa have shared many similar experiences throughout history and given sympathy and support to each other during times of hardship. The profound friendship between the two countries has thus been cemented, and will never be shaken by either rumors or from the instigation of outside forces. Now, we humans need to join hands more than ever before. Following the cooperation tackling the pandemic and the tests it has brought, the China–Africa community with a shared future will undoubtedly become even closer.

China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm

China–Africa: Joint COVID-19 fight brings closer cooperation
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2020-04/29/content_75990871.htm

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SOURCE China.org.cn