Stronger Chinese Power Amid Pandemic Fears... Increased Dependence on China

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[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] The fear of COVID-19, which spread globally as a pandemic, has already passed its peak, and the world’s dependence on China, where quarantine achievements are emerging, is increasing.

◆China: "COVID-19 Peak Passed... Sharing Quarantine Experience with the World"= On the 13th, the National Health Commission of China (NHC) announced that as of midnight, there were 8 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in China. Five new cases were reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, known as the origin of COVID-19. The remaining three cases were reported as imported cases from overseas in Shanghai (2 cases) and Beijing (1 case).

The number of new confirmed cases in China has shown a clear downward trend: 44 on the 7th, 40 on the 8th, 19 on the 9th, 24 on the 10th, 15 on the 11th, and 8 on the 12th. This is the lowest number of new confirmed cases reported since China began compiling COVID-19 statistics. The number of new deaths was limited to 7, with 6 deaths in Hubei Province and 1 additional death in Shandong Province.

China officially declared that the peak period of COVID-19 within the country has already passed and expressed its intention to support the global spread of COVID-19 control efforts.

Mi Feng, spokesperson for the NHC, stated at a briefing the previous day, "China’s current epidemic has already passed its peak," adding, "The number of new confirmed cases continues to decline and remains generally at a low level."

Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory disease expert and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, also said, "China can play a greater role in fighting COVID-19, which has spread to 110 countries and regions," and "If all countries respond more decisively, the spread of COVID-19 will calm down around June when temperatures rise."

Having eased the risk of COVID-19 spread, China is raising its global contribution to quarantine by actively supporting countries in difficulty and sharing its quarantine experience with the world.

The NHC jointly held a presentation with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Beijing the previous day to introduce China’s COVID-19 quarantine experience to international experts and diplomats. Chinese experts presented on COVID-19 prevention and control, diagnosis and treatment, and regional quarantine measures. The WHO praised China, stating, "China has provided important experience to other countries."

◆China Supports Quarantine Supplies Such as Masks... Growing Confidence in Chinese Manufacturing= On the 12th (local time), the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that China will play an important supplier role in global quarantine supplies and that the world’s dependence on China is likely to increase.

SCMP explained that before the COVID-19 outbreak, China produced about 20 million masks per day, but now more than 2,500 companies in China are involved, producing over 100 million masks daily, and are preparing to export more to countries lacking quarantine supplies.

Recently, the Italian government decided to import 1,000 ventilators, 2 million masks, 100,000 ventilators, 200,000 protective suits, and 50,000 diagnostic kits from China. Additionally, Beijing authorities decided to provide quarantine supplies such as protective suits and hand sanitizers to cities severely affected by COVID-19, including Seoul, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Tehran. The support supplies include 200,000 protective suits, 6,800 bottles of hand sanitizer, and 5,000 nucleic acid test kits. Beijing also stated that as the capital of a major country, it will take responsibility and assist the quarantine efforts of four cities without disrupting Beijing’s own quarantine work.

Russell, head of China strategy at the Brookings Institution, said, "China is emerging as a global public goods supplier by exporting masks that the United States cannot export," explaining, "China, which produces what is needed to fight COVID-19, is demonstrating industrial capacity beyond a simple economic model."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.