At the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the Global Health Summit in Beijing on May 21 via video link and deliver an important speech.

The summit, which will take place in Rome at Villa Pamphilj, is a special event of the G20 presidency, organized by Italy in partnership with the European Commission.

The summit is an opportunity for G20 countries, invited leaders, heads of international and regional organizations, and representatives of global health bodies to share lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and develop and endorse a "Rome Declaration" of principles, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during Thursday's news briefing.

China expects the summit to become a platform for the G20 to tackle the global crisis and lead the bloc with international cooperation against COVID-19, he said.

According to the spokesperson, the summit will send a positive signal to the world on multilateralism and global cooperation while inject confidence and impetus to global health governance as well as to the construction of a global community of health.