1.4 billion Chinese people – the true heroes of the pandemic

Medics from north China's Tianjin Municipality wave goodbye before their departure in Wuhan, Hubei Province – the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, March 17, 2020. /Xinhua

**Editor's note: **The following article is taken from the Chinese-language opinion column "The Real Point."

Today is International Workers' Day, a holiday for laborers and working classes everywhere.The celebration this year holds special significance because of the COVID-19 pandemic.Over the past three months, China has waged an arduous battle against the coronavirus, protecting Wuhan, protecting Hubei province, as well as the whole country.

Thankfully, the prevention and control measures taken in China have shown fruitful results.The true heroes behind the war against the disease are the 1.4 billion Chinese people who have been united and fought together to make this happen.

From the very beginning, Chinese President Xi Jinping defined the prevention and control of the epidemic as a "people's war," stressing that their lives and health should be given top priority and that the people should be relied on to achieve the final win.

In a letter to all the staff and workers of the Yuanfang Group in Zhengzhou, Henan Province on April 30, Xi Jinping noted that the "extraordinary comes from ordinary, and heroes come from the people."

In the face of this unexpected epidemic, from front-line medical personnel to staff involved in all aspects of prevention and control, from sanitation workers and couriers to people working in epidemic prevention material factories, tens of thousands of people worked hard, contributing silently to the fight in their respective posts.This formed a powerful force to overcome the epidemic.

Earlier, in phone calls with foreign leaders, President Xi also stressed that "it is all the Chinese people who gave us the strength and confidence to overcome this epidemic. The people are the real heroes."

Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarinsaid that "from the Chinese people, I see the courage, the ability to stand the test and hard work."In the process of fighting the epidemic, these characteristics of Chinese workers are even more prominent, he added.

From all over the country, more than 40,000 medical workers rushed to help Hubei without hesitation. They are living examples of "sacrificing their own interests for the greater good."Zhang Jingjing, a 32-year-old female nurse from Shandong, was typical.

She volunteered to work in Wuhan and fought there for more than two months.After completing her mission, she died of cardiac arrest.

Martin Albrow of the British Academy of Social Sciences and a renowned sociologist said that "Chinese health workers are working overtime and at great cost to themselves. Many health workers are putting themselves in danger when they are actually treating people who are suffering from the virus;" "the rest of the world too, will be looking to China and recognizing what enormous efforts the Chinese people are making for each other."

More than 4 million community workers in some 650,000 residential communities have undertaken disease control and prevention work including epidemic monitoring, entry and exit management, and assisting families in need.

Hua Yuchen, a music teacher at Wuhan Primary School, volunteered as a driver/thermometer holder/broadcaster/porter in a Wuhan cabin Hospital; 15 workers in a mask factory in Nanjing produced 80,000 masks per day.By learning about the stories of all the ordinary Chinese workers, the international community can perhaps gain a clearer understanding of why China won this special war.

Gao Zhixiao, a delivery driver in Beijing, appeared on the cover of Time magazine because of his "remarkable sense of commitment." Time commented that "without these drivers putting themselves at risk, families would go hungry and the sick wouldn't get vital supplies."

At present, with the continuous improvement of the epidemic prevention and control situation, various parts of China are speeding up the resumption of work and production, and tens of thousands of hardworking Chinese people have gone back to their posts.

As of April 14, the average work resumption rate of China's enterprises with an annual revenue of over 20 million yuan had reached 99 percent, and 94 percent of their staff have returned to work.As of April 15, the resumption rate of small and medium-sized enterprises across the country was 84 percent.

In line with plans before the outbreak, this year China will complete the task of eliminating absolute poverty and achieve the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round manner.

Although the epidemic has brought challenges to the country's economic development, as long as China's 1.4 billion people work together, there will never be a challenge or difficulty that cannot be overcome.

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