By Zhong Yin, People’s Daily

Local authorities across China have soon made specific policies to implement the 10 new prevention and control measures recently rolled out by the country on further optimizing the COVID-19 response, so as to contain the epidemic in a more science-based and targeted manner.

According to the 10 new measures, China will optimize nucleic acid testing, and quarantine measures imposed on high-risk areas must be lifted if no new infections are reported for five consecutive days. Besides, quarantine measures for COVID-19 patients and response measures at certain locations will be optimized.

The new measures ensure people’s basic needs to purchase medication and underline the need to accelerate vaccination rates especially for the elderly. They will also ensure smooth logistics and enhance the efforts to protect groups at higher-risk .

Over the recent three years, China has been closely monitoring the changes in the virus and the disease, continuously optimizing the prevention and control strategy and measures based on the situation and looking for the best plan..

China has issued nine editions of COVID-19 control protocols, rolled out a series of measures to optimize pandemic control, and effectively responded to more than 100 regional outbreaks at home and five global resurgences. The country has effectively coped with the uncertain pandemic with stable strategies and flexible control measures.

China’s practice fully indicates that its COVID-19 response has to a very large extent protected the lives and safety of the Chinese people and facilitated people’s life, production and investment.

With the weakening pathogenicity of the Omicron, increasing uptake of vaccination and growing disease response experiences, China’s COVID-19 prevention and control work is facing new situations and new tasks.

The 10 new measures represent further optimization of the country’s ninth edition of COVID-19 control protocols and part of the 20 measures announced in November this year based on the features of the virus and the development of the pandemic.

The optimized measures, which match the new COVID-19 dynamics and the features of the Omicron variant, are expected to make China’s COVID-19 control more science-based and targeted. They will make more efficient use of prevention and control resources, better coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development, and better ensure people’s life and production as well as the demand for healthcare.

It must be realized that these measures are made proactively, rather than passively. The don’t mean relaxation of COVID-19 control, let alone the so-called “lying flat.”

China has a huge population and a large number of senior residents, as well as massive patients of chronic and underlying diseases. It doesn’t have sufficient medical resources and the distribution of such resources remains uneven between regions.

The new measures target at the features of the dominant variant of the coronavirus in China as well as the epidemiological characteristics. They take into consideration the current COVID-19 dynamics and the assessment on the effectiveness of the current control measures. They also learn from the beneficial experiences accumulated across China.

The 10 new measures are exactly a concrete step taken to implement the people-centered philosophy that puts people and their lives and health in the first place, as well as a step that further optimizes prevention and control measures.

By ramping up the vaccination drive, especially among the elderly, and preparing more medical and healthcare resources, the new measures will enhance China’s capacity in pandemic prevention and control and lay a solid foundation for further optimization.

By Chen Weiqing

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Dec. 7 to attend the first China-Arab States Summit and the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit, and pay a state visit to Saudi Arabia upon invitation.

He had in-depth exchanges of views with leaders of Arab states on comprehensive cooperation as well as major international and regional issues.

Together, they jointly charted the course for China-Arab states, China-GCC and China-Saudi Arabia relations, and worked to build a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era.

China and Arab states have deepened and consolidated their political mutual trust.

China firmly supports Arab states in upholding their sovereignty, security and stability, and supports them in pursuing a development path suited to their national conditions. Arab states have always shown their staunch support for China on issues related to its core interests and major concerns.

Both sides support and safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order underpinned by international law. They stand against all forms of hegemony and power politics.

Arab states have actively responded to the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and the Global Security Initiative proposed by Xi. As of October 2022, 17 Arab states have voiced support for the GDI, and 12 have joined the Group of Friends of the GDI.

China and Arab states have yielded fruitful achievements in mutually beneficial cooperation.

China is the largest trading partner of Arab states. Their trade volume reached some $330 billion in 2021. To date, China has signed Belt and Road cooperation agreements with 20 Arab countries and the Arab League.

The two sides see bright prospects in their cooperation on 5G communication, aerospace and satellite, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, big data and other high-tech sectors.

Together, they have fought against the COVID-19 pandemic with solidarity and cooperation. Their efficient cooperation on vaccine development, joint pandemic prevention and control, experience sharing and pharmaceuticals has set a good example for global anti-pandemic cooperation and vividly mirrors the China-Arab community with a shared future.

China and Arab states are seeing increasingly frequent people-to-people exchanges.

The two sides have been bound by a long history of friendly exchanges along the ancient Silk Road. As an envoy of friendship and knowledge, Chinese navigator Zheng He in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) paid multiple visits to the Arab world.

Both Chinese and Arab civilizations embody the common ideals and aspirations of mankind for development and progress, and they both champion such values as moderation, peace, forgiveness, tolerance and self-restraint.

Over recent years, learning Chinese has become a trend in Arab states. As of October this year, four Arab states had declared to include Chinese in their national educational system and 15 had set up Chinese language majors in their universities. Besides, China had built 20 Confucius Institutes and two independent Confucius Classrooms in 13 Arab states.

China-GCC relations have grown from strength to strength.

Over the recent years, China-GCC relations have maintained healthy, stable and comprehensive development, and have been at the forefront of China’s relations with Arab countries.

The two sides have established a strategic dialogue mechanism and maintained close coordination and communication in international and regional affairs.

China has remained the GCC’s largest trading partner, and the two sides’ trade volume surged 44 percent last year.

At present, China-GCC cooperation is being gradually expanded from the traditional sector of energy to high-tech and emerging industries.

Under the current circumstances, China and GCC countries, as good brothers, friends and partners, will keep supporting each other and offering each other mutual assistance.

China-Saudi Arabia relations have embarked on a fast lane of development.

China takes the development of its relations with Saudi Arabia as a priority in its overall foreign relations, in particular its diplomacy in the Middle East.

During Xi’s state visit to Saudi Arabia in January 2016, China and Saudi Arabia established a comprehensive strategic partnership and decided to set up the China-Saudi Arabia High-level Joint Committee.

Saudi Arabia is the largest trading partner of China in West Asia and North Africa, with bilateral trade volume reaching $87.31 billion last year, up 30.1 percent year on year.

China will keep synergizing the BRI and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, to build a high-level cooperation pattern in energy, economic and trade, and high-tech sectors.

It is believed that Xi’s trip will bring China-Arab, China-GCC and China-Saudi Arabia relations onto a new level. China and Arab states, drawing a blueprint for their future development, will make new contributions to safeguarding world peace and stability and promoting global development.

(Chen Weiqing is the Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia)