China Was Always Transparent About COVID-19 - President Xi Jinping

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - China has been transparent, responsible, and prompt in its response to the coronavirus and sharing information with other countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday.

"In China, after making painstaking efforts and enormous sacrifice, we have turned the tide on the virus and protected the life and health of our people. All along we have acted with openness, transparency, and responsibility", Xi said at the World Health Assembly, adding that China shared information about the virus with the global community in a timely manner.

An employee works at a factory of Renesas Semiconductor Co. during a government organised tour of the facility following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Beijing, China May 14, 2020.

© REUTERS / THOMAS PETER

"We must do everything we can for COVID-19 control and treatment, this is the most urgent task. We must always put people first”, Xi said.

The Chinese president stressed the need to stem the transmission of the virus across borders and the need to share knowledge.

"We also need to continue supporting global research by scientists on the source and the transmission rules of the virus", Xi said.

He suggested that the World Health Organisation lead the global response and praised its "major contribution on leading and advancing the global response to COVID-19".

The president also noted that Beijing will provide $2 billion over two years to assist the global COVID-19 response and socioeconomic development of the countries affected.

"For the sake of boosting international cooperation against COVID-19, I would like to announce the following: China will provide $2 billion over two years to help with the COVID-19 response, and with economic and social development in affected countries, especially developing countries", Xi said.

At the moment, China has managed to lower the number of new cases, reporting 84,054 infected. According to Chinese authorities, there haven't been any fatalities from the disease over the past few weeks.