Coronavirus: China’s belt and road partners call for more cooperation on public health
- Fair access to medical goods and services should be world’s top priority, say ministers from 25 nations linked to Beijing’s multibillion-dollar infrastructure development plan
- Belt and Road Initiative has been hard hit by the global health crisis, with 20 per cent of projects ‘seriously affected’, Chinese official says
Ensuring fair access to health products and services should be the world’s top priority, the minister-level officials said in a communique released by China’s foreign ministry on Friday following an international videoconference.
They also called for greater investment in “sound and resilient” health infrastructure – including the construction of regional storage centres for medical supplies – and committed to improving the availability and affordability of “products of reliable quality”, especially vaccines, drugs and other essential items.
Wang Xiaolong, director general of the international economic affairs department at the foreign ministry in Beijing, said that about 20 per cent of belt and road projects had been “seriously affected” by the pandemic, though he did not give any examples.
Of the remainder, 40 per cent had experienced only a mild impact, while 30-40 per cent had been moderately affected, he said, citing figures from a ministry survey.
No major projects had been cancelled, Wang said.
In their statement, the 25 ministers promised to do all they could to provide medical support to foreigners affected by the pandemic within their jurisdictions, including frontline medical staff and those working on belt and road projects.