China's Comprehensive Foreign Aid during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2020, the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 virus threw the entire world into a public health crisis. In early 2020, when China was combating the epidemic, different nations from the world cheered for China, which provided support and encouragement during China's fight against the virus. To show gratitude and to demonstrate the sense of responsibility and broad mind of a big nation, after efficiently controlling the epidemic situation domestically, China proactively initiated different assistance programs to help other countries in their fight against the pandemic.

To date, China has assisted 150 countries worldwide. In Asia, we provided aid to Japan, Korea, Iran, and others nations. In Europe, we provided aid to Italy, Spain, Germany, and other nations. In the Americas, we provided aid to the United States, Canada, and the countries in Latin and Central America. In Africa, we provided aid to Egypt, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and other nations.

To help the countries in need, China did its best to provide different kinds of resources. In pandemic prevention and patient treatment, we provided medical materials and equipment, sent medical expert teams, and more recently supplied vaccines. To fully cooperate with multilateral mechanisms and organizations in fighting the epidemic, China provided financial assistance to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN). To assist countries with financial difficulties, China helped them with infrastructure construction, and cope with debt problems. Wang Yi, State Council and Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that there is only one purpose of China's aid program, which is to rescue as many innocent lives as possible. Our belief is consistent, because the pandemic does not end when one country succeeds in controlling it, but victory only comes when every single country has succeeded in defeating the virus. With this belief, and the ideal of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China put its greatest efforts in assisting various countries in their efforts to overcome the pandemic.

Providing Medical Materials and Equipment

In 2020, China provided different medical materials and equipment to 150 countries and 10 international organizations in the world. These supplies include test kits, face masks, medical gloves, ventilators, protective suits, goggles, medical shoe covers, infrared thermometers and other anti-epidemic supplies and assistance.

According to Li Kuiwen, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs, China exported over 224 billion face masks in total, with a value of 340 billion yuan. This equates to providing almost 40 face masks to every single person in the world outside of China. From March 2020 to the end of the year, customs nationwide processed exports of pandemic prevention and control goods valued at nearly 440 billion yuan. In addition, China exported 2.3 billion protection suits, including 773 million of medical protective suits and 2.9 billion of surgery gloves. In delivering medical equipment, China exported 271,000 ventilators, which includes 212,000 non-invasive ventilators, 663,000 patient monitors, and 119 million infrared thermometers. Overall, we provided 1.1 billion COVID-19 detection kits, which supported the work of COVID-19 virus detection.

Sending Medical Expert Teams

Wang Yi once stated that to practice the ideal of building a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi Jinping, during the recent months, China initiated the largest-scale global emergency humanitarian action in the history of modern China. Up to now, China has provided emergency aid to almost 150 countries and 4 international organizations to meet pressing needs. In addition, China held specialized health experts video conferences for over 170 countries to share hard-earned diagnosis and treatment experiences and prevention plans without reservation. By October 2020, China had dispatched 35 medical expert teams to 33 countries. Risking their own lives, these experts worked hard on the anti-epidemic front line and did not hesitate to provide guidance and consultation on epidemic prevention and control, clinical diagnosis and treatment, and community management.

Supporting Financially Difficult Countries

To fulfill the pressing need of overcoming the pandemic, China helped accelerate the construction of public health infrastructure in countries with financial difficulties. Construction of the Africa CDC headquarters started in December 2020 ahead of schedule. The outpatient building for infectious diseases at the Grand National Hospital of Mauritania, the dormitory building of the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital, and other Chinese-aided projects were completed and delivered ahead of schedule to support local fight against COVID-19. China also assisted Pakistan and other countries in building temporary isolation hospitals to help contain the epidemic.

Furthermore, together with other G20 countries, China implemented the Debt Service Suspension Initiative for the poorest countries, and exempted African countries qualifying under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation from repaying zero-interest rate loans due at the end of 2020.

Funding Multilateral Mechanisms and Organizations

Responding to the fundraising calls of the UN and WHO, China donated US$50 million to the WHO, and announced a US$50 million contribution to the UN COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan. It also earmarked US$10 million in its Poverty Reduction and Regional Cooperation Fund to support the Asian Development Bank’s efforts to help member countries address the COVID-19 challenge, and donated US$2 million worth of materials to the International Atomic Energy Agency to support its anti-epidemic effort. The Chinese government is also working with the UN to set up a global humanitarian response depot and hub in China.

Supplying Vaccines

Since China has successfully developed vaccines for COVID-19, many countries have started inoculation. Several national leaders have already been inoculated with Chinese vaccines, including Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte also publically expressed his wish to get vaccinated.

In 2021, China will provide 100 million doses of vaccines to Brazil, 25 million to the Philippines, and will also provide vaccines to Pakistan, Iraq, Indonesia, and other nations. In January 2021, Serbia, Ukraine, and Turkey have received the first batch of vaccines, ranging from 1 to 3 million doses.

At the same time, China will provide loans for vaccination drives in countries with financial difficulties. In accordance with this idea, the Chinese government has committed to providing a $1 billion loan to Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries to facilitate access to the vaccines.

Contributed by Zhang Junye