On January 18th, 2023, Mr. ZHANG Weitao, Charge d'Affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in the FSM, published an article titled China's optimization of COVID-19 policies are science-based, timely and effective on The Kaselehlie Press, the only newspaper in the FSM (bi-weekly), in its Vol. 23 and Iss. 04. The full text is as follows:
Kaselehlie! It's my great pleasure to communicate with our friends in the FSM through The Kaselehlie Press. First of all, I would like to extend New Year greetings to all of you.
Over the past year, under the strategic guidance of H.E. Xi Jinping, President of People's Republic of China, and H.E. David W. Panuelo, President of the Federated States of Micronesia, China-FSM relations have maintained sound and stable development, with increasing political mutual trust and deepening cooperation in various fields, bringing tangible benefits to the two countries and two peoples. In particular, in the face of the challenges of COVID-19, China and the FSM, as comprehensive strategic partners, have always understood and helped each other to overcome the difficulties, writing a touching story of fighting the pandemic with solidarity.
Last July, the FSM faced a grave situation in epidemic prevention due to community spread of COVID-19. Fortunately, under the strong leadership of President H.E David W. Panuelo, the FSM has successfully overcome the peak of the epidemic, gained important experience in fighting the epidemic, and made continuous economic and social recovery. During that period, Chinese Embassy in the FSM has joined hands with the FSM government and people, provided assistance to the best of its capability and made its due contribution to helping the FSM out of the shadow of the epidemic.
Many friends in the FSM may have noticed that the Chinese government has optimized and adjusted its COVID-19 policy. From January 8, 2023, China has started to manage COVID-19 with measures against Class-B instead of the more serious Class-A infectious diseases, shifting the focus of our response from stemming infection to caring for health and preventing severe cases, and taken a series of measures to better facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries. Nucleic acid tests and centralized quarantine will no longer be conducted on inbound travelers upon arrival. Passenger capacity limits on international flights have been removed.
The above mentioned measures are optimization of the epidemic prevention policy made by the Chinese government in light of the latest COVID-19 situation, based on scientific and rational analysis and assessment with a prudent approach. It is science-based, timely and necessary. The aim is to protect the lives and health of the people and reduce the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development to the maximum extent possible. This is also important from a strategic and long-term perspective for effectively coordinating COVID-19 response with economic and social development and safeguarding the fundamental interests of the greatest majority of the people.
China has been the most successful country in fighting the epidemic. Since COVID-19 began, the Chinese government has always put the people and lives first, just as the FSM government has done. We have poured all our efforts and resources into protecting the life and health of every Chinese during the toughest time.
Over the past three years, we have effectively responded to five global COVID-19 waves and avoided widespread infections with the original strain and the Delta variant, which are relatively more pathogenic than the other variants. We have greatly reduced the number of severe cases and deaths, and bought precious time for the research, development and application of vaccines and therapeutics, and for getting medical supplies and other resources ready. China has managed to maintain the lowest rates of COVID-19 severe cases and deaths, while people's average life expectancy has increased from 77.3 to 78.2 years in 2021. China's tremendous achievements in the fight against COVID-19 have won high praise and unanimous recognition from the international community, including the WHO.
In response to the pandemic, China has taken a holistic approach toward disease control and economic development, adapting response measures by keeping them science-based, targeted, and responsive to the evolving situation, to minimize the impact on people's daily life as well as overall economic and social development. China's economy grew by an average of 5.1% in the year 2020 and 2021, one of the highest in major global economies. China also moved up six places in Human Development Index (HDI) ranking despite the decline of the global HDI for two consecutive years.
It should come as no surprise that countries would go through a period of adaptation as they shift gears in COVID-19 policy. China is no exception. However, China has better foundations for adjusting its epidemic prevention policies.
First, the incubation period of the virus is shorter and the pathogenicity is significantly reduced, and it will gradually evolve into a common respiratory infectious disease.
Second, although the number of infected people is large, asymptomatic infections and mild cases are the majority, and the occurrence of severe cases and mortality is extremely low.
Third, China has inoculated 1.4 billion people with more than 3.4 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine, covering 92% of the total population. Over 90% of the population have been fully vaccinated. China has 13 types of COVID-19 vaccines available, with an annual vaccine production capacity of more than 7 billion doses. Meanwhile, China has taken multiple measures to increase drug production capacity, which could basically meet the market demand, and the supply of antipyretic and anti-influenza medicines has been significantly improved. China is actively engaged in international medical co-operation and has approved the import of COVID-19 treatment drugs produced by Pfizer and other foreign manufacturers.
At the moment, China's epidemiological situation is generally stable and under control. Recently, Beijing, Guangzhou and other places have passed the peak of the epidemic. Life and work are gradually coming back to normal, travel around the country is warming up, and the familiar hustle and bustle has come back to the streets and alleys in China. We have full capability and confidence in the final victory over the epidemic.
Some Western media have discredited China's COVID-19 policy adjustment, alleging that China has changed its COVID-19 response philosophy and no longer values people's lives. This type of rhetoric is driven by bias, intended to smear China and politically motivated. There is no truth in such rhetoric, which simply misses the facts.
In fact, China has not only safeguarded the lives and health of its own people, but also made important contributions to the global fight against COVID-19. China has been sharing relevant information and data with the international community in an open, transparent and responsible manner. Over the past three years, China has carried out over 60 technical exchanges with WHO. China is also doing its best to share the genome data of the virus via the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID).
China was the first to make vaccines a global public good. It has provided more than 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine to more than 120 countries and international organizations, hundreds of billions of anti-pandemic items to 153 countries and 15 international organizations. China has launched over 300 activities on technical exchange for COVID-19 prevention and control with 180 countries and regions, as well as over 10 international organizations, and sent 38 medical teams to 34 countries, to help the international community respond to the epidemic. I believe our friends in the FSM have also witnessed what China has done in the past three years. We have provided many batches of anti-epidemic supplies and cash assistance to the FSM, playing an active role in helping the FSM overcome the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
What's past is prologue. As China adjusts its epidemic prevention policy, it is widely predicted that the Chinese economy will show a remarkable momentum of recovery in 2023, which will bring more opportunities to the whole world.
Looking ahead to the new year, I am confident that China will overcome the pandemic, pursue greater openness and achieve steady economic recovery, thus creating broader space for China-FSM cooperation. China looks forward to working with the FSM to actively implement the important consensus reached between the two leaders, seize the opportunities brought by China's development, deepen bilateral practical cooperation and lift China-FSM Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to a new level, so as to deliver greater benefits to our two countries and two peoples.