China to continue to provide support to Serbia against COVID-19

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China will continue to support Serbia, Kyrgyzstan and Finland to fight against the COVID-19 during his phone calls with the foreign leaders separately on Tuesday.

China has provided Serbia with urgently needed medical materials, sent medical experts and will continue to provide assistance and support to Serbia in its fight against COVID-19, Xi Jinping told his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vuci.

The two sides have once again demonstrated their deep friendship with concrete actions to fight the pandemic, Xi said, noting that the bilateral relations will be further enhanced after the test of the virus.

Xi pointed out that China is willing to join hands with Serbia to promote global cooperation amid the pandemic.

For his part, Vucic echoed that his country will keep in mind what China has done, which gives the Serbian people hope to win the fight, adding Serbian people will always be the sincere and reliable friends of the Chinese people and Serbia will do its best to protect Chinese people in Serbia.

Chinese experts call for stricter measures to contain COVID-19 in Serbia

More than 3,000 people had been infected with COVID-19 in Serbia, with 71 deaths, local authorities reported at a daily press conference on April 10.

Serbia has been in a state of emergency since March 16. Borders and schools are closed, while people's movements have been restricted with curfews.

During his phone call with Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Xi said that Kyrgyzstan overcame difficulties and provided medical aid to China when the country was facing the most difficult period of the epidemic prevention and control.

China is willing to share information and experience with Kyrgyzstan and send medical experts there as soon as possible, Xi said, adding the two sides should strengthen cooperation both on bilateral level and within multilateral frameworks such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The two sides should also advance the comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level and promote joint construction of the Belt and Road, Xi noted.

The Kyrgyz president hailed China's efforts and achievements against the virus, saying that the pandemic shows the urgency and feasibility of the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, which was proposed by Xi.

Xi also spoke with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö on the same day, saying that China will continue to share its experience in coping with the virus with Finland and help the country with its shortage of necessities.

Xi said he believes Finland will overcome the difficulty under Niinistö's leadership, and hopes Finland can ensure the safety of Chinese people, especially students in Finland.

Xi also vowed to deepen cooperation with Finland in areas including technology innovation, telecommunication and science.

Niinistö said China's experience is very helpful for his country and praised China's cooperation with the World Health Organization and other European countries.

The president noted that the speedy recovery of China's economy is crucial to the whole world.

He said Finland will take care of the Chinese people in Finland and wished to push forward bilateral ties with Xi.