Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message of sympathy to Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani over his infection with COVID-19.

In his message, Xi wished Ghazouani a speedy recovery, and expressed his confidence that the West African country would achieve an early victory over the pandemic under the leadership of the president.

The Chinese government and the Chinese people "firmly" support Mauritania's fight against the pandemic, Xi said.

Ghazouani, 65, was displaying mild symptoms of COVID-19 after testing positive, Mauritania's presidency said on Tuesday.

The West African country has registered 1,445 infections over the last seven days, and the country of 4.5 million people has reported 872 deaths from 42,182 cases of COVID since the start of the pandemic two years ago, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

It also became the first West African country and the 12th on the continent to reach the World Health Organization's goal of vaccinating at least 10 percent of its population before the end of September, according to the WHO.

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(Cover: File photo of Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani. /Reuters)