Xi Jinping calls for a global COVID-19 'firewall' at G20 summit

APD NEWS

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Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Group of 20 (G20) to build a global "firewall" against the COVID-19 pandemic in his speech at the G20 summit on Saturday.

Xi made the remarks via video link at the invitation of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

"The COVID-19 pandemic exposed a weakness in the global governance," Xi said. He also emphasized that the G20 should "play a bigger role" in the global coordination of fighting against the pandemic.

Xi expressed his opinion on the priority of the fight against the novel coronavirus. The G20 should respect the World Health Organization (WHO) and create a global mechanism coping with pandemics.

Xi also suggested a specific measure that the G20 can take to bring the pandemic to a stop, which is an international recognition mechanism of the "health code." The code should be based on the global standard of QR code technology and the result of the COVID-19 nucleic acid test. He wished more countries can join the effort of creating a standardized "express passage" for people to travel between nations.

The Chinese president also expressed the country's promise to try and make the COVID-19 vaccine "a product that can be available and fairly priced for people from all countries."

China is positive to the global cooperation of developing COVID-19 vaccines. The country has joined the COVAX and wishes to work with other countries in the research, production, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

(CGTN)