Q: Recently, China has adjusted its COVID policy, including steps to treat COVID-19 as a Class-B instead of Class-A infectious disease, easing travel restrictions between China and foreign countries. Some US media discredited China’s surging cases and overwhelmed health service, doubted data transparency, alleged that China’s COVID response has failed, and noticed that the US and some other countries had carried out COVID entry restrictions for travelers from China. What is your comment?

A: We firmly oppose irresponsible remarks by certain media that smear and distort China's COVID policy adjustment and anti-COVID effectiveness.

Since COVID began, the Chinese government has always put the people and their lives above all else. We have poured all our efforts and resources into protecting the life and health of every Chinese during the toughest time. Over the past three years, China has effectively dealt with the impact of five COVID waves, avoiding the spread of the original strains and the Delta variant strains, greatly reducing severe cases and deaths, and buying precious time for the research and application of vaccines and drugs, as well as the preparation of medical resources. Globally speaking, China has had the lowest rates of severe cases and mortality. Despite the pandemic, average life expectancy in China went up from 77.3 to 78.2 years. During their visit to China, the WHO expert team expressed admiration for China's success in slowing down the curve of COVID and spoke highly of China's achievements in fighting the epidemic, saying that China has created a miracle.

China not only protects the lives and health of its own people, but also echoes the solidarity of the international community in to fight against COVID. China was the first to propose that vaccines should be used as a global public good. Matching the words with actions, China has provided more than two billion doses of vaccines and a large amount of anti-COVID materials to the world and donated to WHO. With an open, transparent and responsible attitude, China has shared information with other countries from the very beginning of the epidemic and helped the international community in its response to the epidemic.

Since the beginning of COVID, the Chinese Consulate General in New York has donated a large number of COVID prevention supplies including masks, protective suits and gloves. We actively assisted New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states in collecting COVID-prevention supplies from China, and encouraged relevant states to hold experience-sharing meetings with their sister provinces and cities in China. All sectors of our consular districts have also provided valuable assistance to China during the toughest time. The two sides continue to stand together, sharing weal and woe, and offered each other support.

With Omicron much less pathogenic and deadly and the rate of severe cases and mortality decreasing significantly, China has taken the initiative to refine its COVID response measures. The Chinese people are more concerned about their daily life, work, study and livelihood. When the people want something, the government must actively respond. Based on the experience of other countries’ COVID prevention and China’s treatment, testing and vaccination capacity steadily on the rise, China has issued steps to treat COVID-19 as a Class-B instead of Class-A infectious disease, shifting the focus of our response from stemming infection to preventing severe cases and caring for health. This shift is also important from a strategic and long-term perspective for effectively coordinating COVID response with economic and social development and safeguarding the fundamental interests of the greatest majority of the people.  

As response measures are being refined, relevant Chinese departments have worked actively to beef up medical resources, set up a multi-tiered and category-based diagnosis and treatment mechanism, and increased the production capacity and supply of medicines. We have mobilized as many resources as possible to protect the elderly with underlying health conditions, pregnant and lying-in women, children and other key groups, and made every effort to reduce severe cases and deaths. So far, China has vaccinated more than 3.46 billion doses for Chinese people, with a coverage rate of over 90 percent, with 85 percent of 60+ years-old people and 65 percent of 80+ years-old people. Accelerating the vaccination of the elderly has achieved positive results and successfully protected the Chinese people during the toughest time. China is also upgrading the vaccine to improve its effectiveness and better deal with the mutation of the virus.

Before the COVID, more than five million people traveled between China and the US across the Pacific every year, vigorously promoting mutual understanding, mutual trust and consensus. We’ve always believed that for all countries, COVID response measures need to be science-based and proportionate without affecting normal people-to-people exchange. We have also noted that quite a few countries have spoken positively about China’s provisional measures on cross-border travel and that they hope such travel will further pick up with greater ease.

We’ve always believed that as long as we uphold the principle of putting people and life first, and through the concerted efforts of the Chinese people, we will defeat COVID at an early date and stride towards a better future. We also believe that as long as we strengthen exchanges and cooperation between our consular districts and China in the spirit of mutual support and sharing weal and woe, we will continue to write a great story of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation between China and the US.