Xinhua: Timeline of “Ping” China’s leadership in dealing with the corona

Over the past almost three years, Chinese President Xi Jinping has led his country in a fierce and extraordinary fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19).

During the crisis, China maintained the lowest rate of the disease and the lowest number of deaths from it among all the major countries in the world during that period.

Here, we review a timeline of the country’s response to the pandemic under the president’s leadership to find out which moves were made right.

On January 20, 2020, when the epidemic first appeared in China, President Xi was visiting Yunnan Province. As soon as he found out, he immediately ordered decisive measures to curb the spread of the virus. From the very beginning, Xi emphasized putting people’s lives and safety above all else.

On January 22, 2020, under the burden of severe virus attacks in the central Chinese province of Hubei, especially in Wuhan, the provincial capital, Xi assessed the situation and then ordered the closure of all exit channels from Wuhan and the entire province, which means putting about 10 million people in the city under an unprecedented lockdown. This step was crucial in limiting the spread of the virus.

On January 25, 2020, during the celebration of the traditional Chinese New Year, which is one of the most important traditional holidays in China, Xi, who is also the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, called the party leadership to a meeting to discuss the rapid response plan to COVID – 19. Subsequently, a central management group was formed, and working groups were sent to areas that reported an alarming epidemiological situation.

On February 3, 2020, with the approval of Xi, in his capacity as Chairman of the Central Military Commission, the Chinese Armed Forces sent 1,400 medical personnel to Wuhan. Many of them had rich experience in fighting infectious diseases such as SARS in 2003 in Beijing and Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

On February 10, 2020, Xi reviewed the work on epidemic prevention and control in Beijing. He sent his regards to medical and frontline workers across the country and made plans for the next phase of the epidemic response.

On February 23, 2020, at a specially convened working meeting, Xi emphasized the need to coordinate the response to COVID-19 while maintaining economic and social development.

On March 2, 2020, Xi visited the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and the School of Medicine of Tsinghua University in Beijing to review the scientific research work on COVID-19. He called for maximum efforts in the fight against the epidemic, as well as for continuous efforts in the search for scientific solutions.

March 10, 2020 was a defining moment in China’s fight against COVID-19. Xi arrived in the worst-hit city of Wuhan to review the outbreak response work on the ground. Xi called for the fight against the epidemic to be a top priority.

On March 26, 2020, an extraordinary summit of G20 leaders on COVID-19 was held, an unprecedented high-level meeting held via video conference. It was also the first major multilateral event attended by Xi since the outbreak of COVID-19. His speech at the rally played an important role in mobilizing international solidarity in the fight against the pandemic.

On April 4, 2020, that day was the Festival of Purity and Purity (Grave Cleansing), which is a traditional Chinese holiday commemorating ancestors and deceased family members. That day, Xi presided over a national mourning ceremony for the lives taken by the new coronavirus.

On April 8, 2020, China lifted the quarantine from Wuhan. On the same day, Xi presided over a party leadership meeting to discuss the implementation of routine measures to respond to COVID-19 and the promotion of resumption of work and production in all fields.

At the end of May 2020, the postponed annual sessions of the highest legislative and highest advisory body in the country were held. Sitting with fellow lawmakers, Xi called for a better public health system and outlined plans to strengthen routine responses to COVID-19 and accelerate economic and social development.

On September 8, 2020, Xi spoke highly of China’s great spirit in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic as the country’s exemplary fighters received high national awards. China has made great strategic achievements after eight months of fighting the COVID-19 epidemic.

On January 28, 2021, the CPC leadership held a joint study session on a good start at the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025). Xi stressed the prevention of imported cases and the re-emergence of local cases without leaving behind to ensure that a large number of imported cases are not received or the disease re-emerges on a large scale.

On March 6, 2021, Xi emphasized giving “strategic priority” to protecting people’s health when he joined national political advisers from the education, medical and health sectors at a joint group meeting held over “two sessions”.

On August 5, 2021, Xi announced that China will strive to provide 2 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the world during the year and provide US$100 million to COVAX, an amount that will help developing countries receive life-saving vaccines.

On November 16, 2021, President Xi held his first virtual meeting with his American counterpart, Joe Biden. Xi pointed out that the pandemic once again proves that humanity lives in a community with a common future, that there is no higher priority than people’s lives, and that solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons of the international community in the fight against COVID-19.

At the beginning of 2022, the pandemic situation remained complex and rapidly changing. Since March, a new wave of infections caused by the super-spreading Omicron variant has hit many provinces.

On March 17, 2022, at the party leadership meeting, Xi emphasized putting people and their lives first, adhering to a dynamic approach to zero COVID with science-based targeted measures, and curbing the spread of the virus as soon as possible.

On May 5, 2022, Xi presided over a party leadership meeting, emphasizing efforts to consolidate hard-won achievements in the response to the epidemic and seriously adhere to duties.

On June 28, 2022, Xi visited Wuhan again. “I was absorbed by the people of Wuhan and now I am here to visit you again in this heroic city after two years,” he said.

Xi stressed that in the past two years, Wuhan has faced multiple clusters of infections, but has quickly controlled them without much difficulty.

On November 10, 2022, Xi presided over a party leadership meeting to hear a report on the response to COVID-19 and discuss and agree on 20 measures to further improve the response. A day later, the Chinese government unveiled the measures and called for more targeted, science-based epidemiological responses.

This article was transmitted by the “Xinhua” agency, according to the content exchange agreement with the “Al-Mal” newspaper.