President vows firm support for Russia

China will continue to extend firm support to Russia in its efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and facilitate the country's procurement of medical supplies from China, President Xi Jinping said in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday night.

In the conversation, Xi called for joint efforts by the two sides to safeguard global public health security, saying that any action that politicizes and labels the pandemic will not benefit international cooperation.

Xi said the fact that he and Putin had spoken on the phone twice within a month on furthering exchanges and coordination on epidemic containment cooperation is an indication of the high level of bilateral relations.

He commended the series of forceful containment measures rolled out by Russia, under Putin's leadership, saying that he believes Russia will definitely be able to curb the spread of the pandemic, protect the health and safety of its people and restore its social and economic development.

China will always bear in mind the precious help from Russia during its most difficult time of epidemic containment, he added.

The group of medical experts sent by the Chinese government is now working in a proactive manner in Moscow and sharing with their Russian counterparts China's experience in fighting the pandemic, and China has already sent aid to Russia, he noted.

Xi also expressed his appreciation to Russia for helping Chinese citizens in the country, adding that it is his belief that Russia will continue to safeguard the normal work and life of Chinese citizens in Russia.

He noted that bilateral trade has increased by 3.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, and this is a hard-won result as the global economy is in a downturn.

The two countries should explore new ways of cooperation that are more flexible and diversified with normalized epidemic containment measures in place and continuously move forward their bilateral cooperation, he said.

He also expressed his belief that bilateral strategic coordination will become even more resilient and stronger and the friendship between the two peoples will be more enduring after the test from the pandemic.

Putin said Russia and China have always been united in actions and cooperated with each other since the pandemic broke out, which shows the high level of bilateral relations.

The practice by some people of smearing China over the source of the virus is unacceptable, he said, adding that Russia will continue to step up cooperation and exchanges with China on fighting the pandemic.

The two leaders agreed to continue to maintain close contacts through various channels.

The epidemic situation is worsening in Russia as more than 27,000 confirmed infections have been reported in the country with over 230 deaths.

In another development, Premier Li Keqiang had telephone conversations with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok of Sudan's interim government on Thursday on the COVID-19 outbreak.