Experts praise Xi's speech at anti-virus summit

China has actively shouldered its international responsibilities and strengthened cooperation and solidarity with the African continent in the joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, global experts said.

President Xi Jinping made a keynote speech at the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19, which he presided over via video link in Beijing on Wednesday, assuring African countries China will continue supporting COVID-19 containment measures on the continent.

While calling for solidarity and cooperation to combat the pandemic, Xi also unveiled a series of measures to help Africa deal with the public health crisis, including providing technical and material support and debt relief for African countries.

Nasser Bouchiba, president of the Africa-China Cooperation Association for Development in Morocco, said China has been actively shouldering its international responsibilities and obligations.

He said the convening of the summit means medical cooperation between China and Africa "is moving forward to a higher level, which undoubtedly will have a profound significance for the construction and improvement of African countries' public health systems".

He believes as long as China and Africa are united, the difficulties will be overcome.

Minoru Okada, a professor at Takushoku University in Tokyo, said China had carried out concrete efforts in helping other countries fight the pandemic.

"It is a way to support saving lives and international cooperation in fighting the disease," said Okada, adding the anti-epidemic endeavor is at a critical stage and the world needs more unity than ever.

Mikhail Belyaev, a researcher at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, said China has made tremendous progress in the research of basic sciences, including medical science.

What is even more precious for the world is China's attitude toward international cooperation in the field, which aims at facing the epidemic with the world by sharing the results of vaccine studies, Belyaev said.

Stephen Chan, professor of international relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the University of London, said he was impressed by Xi's statement China will cancel the debt of relevant African countries and urged the international community to provide debt relief to address the economic distress caused by COVID-19.

Many national economies have slumped because of the disease, he added.

Innocent Mutanga, co-founder and CEO of Africa Center Hong Kong, a platform that promotes racial harmony between African and non-African communities in Hong Kong, said in facing the global medical emergency it's necessary that "all nations come together and help each other to combat this deadly virus".

He added China-Africa relations could also go beyond debt relief and medical aid in the future. For example, China could help Africa develop its capital markets, which would make it easier for local companies to raise funds from the public.

Franklyn Lisk, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Globalization and Regionalization at the University of Warwick, said the summit shows China has provided "generosity, compassion, and hope to Africa for its response to the uncertainty and anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Ren Qi in Moscow, Wang Xu in Tokyo, and Chen Yingqun in Beijing contributed to this story.