Xi said confident in Russia containing COVID-19

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday that politicizing and labeling the pandemic are not conducive to international cooperation and called on China and Russia to work together to maintain global public health security.

The Chinese president made the remarks in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the second within a month.

President Xi said he believes that under Putin's leadership, Russia will control the spread of COVID-19 very soon, ensure the safety of people's lives and health, and restore economic and social development, adding that China will remember Russia's help in its hardest time against the virus.

Currently, a team of Chinese medical experts are in Moscow to help Russia fight the virus. They have exchanged experience with their Russian colleagues in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients.

China has also donated medical supplies to Russia and will continue to do so, Xi promised.

Xi stressed that in the first quarter of this year, the volume of bilateral trade between China and Russia increased by 3.4 percent over the same period last year, which is especially valuable in the context of the overall downward trend of world economy.

He added China and Russia need to explore new and flexible ways of cooperation under regular epidemic containment so as to promote the continuous development of bilateral cooperation.

China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination will be more resilient and stronger and the friendship between the two peoples will remain unshaken after the test of jointly fighting the pandemic, President Xi continued.

By uniting all the Chinese people as one, China has achieved significant results in its fights against COVID-19 and has been supporting and helping many countries in the world combat the pandemic, Putin said.

He added that, since the outbreak, Russia and China have supported each other, showing the strategic and high level of bilateral relations.

Noting that some people's attempts to discredit China on the source of the virus are unacceptable, Putin said Russia is willing to continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields and within the framework of the United Nations and other international organizations.