On April 20, 2020, The Hill Times published two signed articles by Ambassador Cong Peiwu titled "Deepen international cooperation and meet challenges together", "Working Together to Defeat the COVID-19 Outbreak as a Community with a Shared Future". Here is the full text:

Deepen international cooperation and meet challenges together

Recently, when I talked to Canadian scholars and friends from business circle, they all expressed their concerns on the pandemic and they were worried about its impact on the world economy. On these issues, I would like to share with you the following views.

Since the spread of the COVID-19 around the world, major international organizations have downgraded their forecasts for the growth of the world economy. Moody's, S&P and other rating agencies have also issued warnings. The United States and Canada have successively announced interest rate cuts. The world's major stock markets, foreign exchange markets and crude oil prices have fallen sharply. With the outbreak of the pandemic, the concern of the international community to the global economic recession is rising day by day, it has not only seriously threatened the world's public health security, but also caused a great impact on the economic operation.

International cooperation is needed to contain the spread of the epidemic. The virus spreads beyond borders. At the Extraordinary G20 Leaders' Summit, President Xi Jinping pointed out that the community of nations must move swiftly to stem the spread of the virus. The outbreak we are battling is our common enemy. All must work together to build a strongest global network of control and treatment that the world has ever seen. We propose a G20 COVID-19 assistance initiative for better information sharing and policy and action coordination with the support of the World Health Organization. China will be more than ready to share our good practices, conduct joint research and development of drugs and vaccines, and provide assistance where we can to countries hit by the growing outbreak.

International cooperation is also needed to address the impact of the epidemic on the world economy. In the era of economic globalization, countries in the world are interdependent, and we are a community not only of shared future, but also of shared interests. The beggar-thy-neighbor approach and practices such as kicking someone when they are down cannot help a country stay immune.

The outbreak has disrupted production and demand across the globe. Countries need to leverage and coordinate their macro policies to counteract the negative impact. We need to keep our exchange rates and global financial markets basically stable, We also need to jointly keep the global industrial and supply chains stable. We should take concerted actions to provide for people's basic needs and prevent the world economy from falling into recession.

The COVID-19 epidemic affects China's economy in a temporary and limited manner. The long term positive fundamentals of China's economy remain unchanged, and so do the factors underpinning high-quality development.

The Chinese government has promptly introduced a series of fiscal and financial measures to support enterprises to tide over the difficulties, including reduction of value-added tax for small-scale taxpayers, cost cut of electricity and gas for enterprises, and new loans with phased preferential interest rate.

At the same time, in accordance with the Foreign Investment Law, the Chinese government has actively helped foreign-funded enterprises solve their difficulties in resuming work and production. We are also broadening the opening-up in service industries like financial industry.

These policies and measures have effectively brought China's industrial chains and supply chains back to normal. According to the Ministry of Commerce of China's press release, by April 10, more than 76 percent of China's key supply chain foreign trade enterprises had recovered more than 70 percent of their production capacity.The China federation of logistics and purchasing's logistics performance index(LPI) for march was 51.5%, up 25.3 percentage points from the previous month. At present, the phased effect of epidemic prevention and control in China has been further consolidated, important progress has been made in resuming work and production, and the economic and social operation order has been accelerate.

China's adherence to reform and opening-up is crucial to the healthy and stable development of the world economy. China is willing to make concerted efforts with the international community to overcome the epidemic and push the world economy back to track.

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Working Together to Defeat the COVID-19 Outbreak as a Community With a Shared Future

Over the past few weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly spreading around the world and has become a disaster affecting all mankind. It impacts every corner of the global village and respects no borders, races or culture.

At the moment, the pandemic in Canada continues to develop, whose increasing number of infections adds to everyone's worry. We relate to the difficulties confronting the Canadian people.

The COVID-19 should not be underestimated. At present, mankind has not yet fully understood its generation mechanism, epidemic trend, and route of transmission, and each country has chosen different methods to fight against it, and among them, there is one common point, which is that all countries will need to make up their minds and make greater efforts.

To effectively control the disease, Canada has launched series of strict control measures, including closing the border, banning parties, telecommuting, and issuing stay-at-home orders; also, many provinces and cities have declared state of emergency.

China has just experienced the hardest times, and we deeply understand that, during extraordinary times, individual's courage, perseverance, and determination, as well as collective wisdom in taking the pandemic as a common concern, abiding by rules and regulations, keeping united and giving mutual encouragement, are required.

China has always put people's safety and health in the first place, and resolutely implemented the most comprehensive, stringent and powerful prevention and control measures in history. The practice has proved that such a series of actions are scientific and in line with China's reality.

As an old Chinese saying goes, "A friend in need is a friend indeed". In our most difficult times, the international community, including people from all walks of life in Canada, has extended a helping hand to provide support and help. We are sincerely grateful for this, and will always keep it in mind.

We will always stick together through thick and thin and give mutual help. In the face of the global crisis, China has never resolved it on its own without any thought of others. Chinese doctors have quickly identified the novel coronavirus during the flu season and immediately shared genome sequencing information with their international counterparts, laying the foundation for follow-up vaccine and drug development.

In terms of diagnosis and treatment plans, drug use, community prevention and control, and public health, China has explored much effective experience, taken the initiative to organize them into various languages, held a number of expert video conferences and press conferences, and actively shared them with World Health Organization (WHO) and the international community. Recently, the Red Cross Societies of China and Canada have also organized a virtual conference participating by relevant experts and medical personnel, which has achieved good results.

In the face of appeals for help from some deeply-stricken countries, the Chinese expert teams hurriedly transferred to the international anti-epidemic battlefield without any preparation of packing the luggage, bringing these countries medical supplies as well as sympathies and blessings from the Chinese people.

Having experienced great disasters, we deeply understand that human beings living on the same planet are all blood brothers, and only by helping each other can we overcome difficulties together.

China interprets the profound connotation of a community with a shared future for mankind with actions. As Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, has said, what history bears in mind are not only the advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, but also the common responsibility of all nations working together to tackle the crisis.

On the road to fighting the pandemic, we sincerely hope to work with people from all walks of life in Canada, to tide over the difficulties and safeguard the dignity of human life.