Party joins others worldwide in calling for cooperation to combat pandemic

The Communist Party of China has been actively working with political parties around the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen international cooperation against the virus and build a global community of health for all, said Xu Lyuping, former vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee.

"While the COVID-19 outbreak has temporarily affected the CPC's face-to-face interaction with political parties and organizations in other countries, frequent contact and communication between them have not been suspended at all," Xu, also a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, told China Daily.

In April, the CPC and more than 240 political parties from over 110 countries issued a joint open letter that called for carrying out closer international cooperation to combat COVID-19.

"This is the first joint appeal of major world political parties for strengthening international cooperation since the outbreak, and it has become a major event in the history of exchanges among world political parties," Xu said.

According to Xu, the CPC has sent messages to the leaders of hundreds of political parties in nearly 100 countries to give timely information to them about China's epidemic control and prevention situation during different periods with openness, transparency and responsibility.

China's control and prevention protocols, as well as diagnosis and treatment measures have been translated into several languages and have been provided to nearly 400 political parties, she added.

The CPC also shared China's experiences fighting against COVID-19 to help global anti-pandemic efforts through online meetings, including the Asian Political Parties Online Conference under the theme of "Forging Synergy against COVID-19" in late March, Xu said.

Since the outbreak, more than 600 people from over 300 political parties and organizations in more than 130 countries have sent their messages of solidarity and sympathy to the CPC Central Committee and its General Secretary Xi Jinping, voicing their support for Chinese people fighting against the virus, according to Xu.

"Many political parties and their leaders said that they were very impressed by the CPC's governing philosophy of putting people first and the major advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics," Xu said.

"Through exchanges and cooperation with political parties, the CPC will continue to inject positive energy into the global fight against the virus and undertake its mission as a responsible political party," she added.

Xu said that many political parties also voiced their opposition to individual country's attempts to politicize the COVID-19 pandemic and stigmatize China.

They said that some forces are using the novel coronavirus outbreak to meet their domestic political needs, and the root cause of such behavior is a Cold War mentality, according to Xu.

"They strongly condemned the act of shifting blame under the excuse of COVID-19, saying it would only undermine the solidarity of the international community and undercut anti-pandemic cooperation among countries," she added.