Embassy spokesperson's remarks on some media's wrong comment about China's COVID policy

Question: Some British media reported recently that "China is pushing ahead with a failed COVID-19 policy in disregard of its people's well-being". What is your comment?

Embassy Spokesperson: The relevant report misrepresented the intention behind China's COVID response policy and ignored the notable achievements of China's COVID measures.

The fact is, in the past two years and more, China has coordinated its epidemic response with economic and social activities in a science-based manner. The achievements are self-evident. As a country with a population of over 1.4 billion, China has the world's lowest infection and fatality rates, at 9.4/100000 and 0.4/100000 respectively. To put things in perspective, one could compare these with the figures in the US and UK. On the economic front, China's GDP last year exceeded 110 trillion yuan, increasing by 8.1 percent year-on-year. The increment alone was the equivalent of the world's sixth largest economy. And the inflation rate stood at only 0.9 percent. The resilience and vitality of the Chinese economy are also contributing to global economy recovery.

The goal of China's policy is to put COVID under control within the shortest time and with the lowest cost to society. We will continue to base our COVID measures on the latest science and make them more targeted according to the changes in the epidemiological situation and virus' behaviour. These efforts will contribute to society returning to normal and the resilience of industrial and supply chains.

Different countries have different national conditions and face different COVID situations. We support countries in adopting their own response policies based on their national conditions, but firmly opposes any unfounded criticisms leveled at China. China will continue to work with the rest of the world to embrace unity, cooperation and mutual assistance, and show greater mutual understanding and accommodation, so as to create conditions for the return of normality in the world as early as possible.