E-diplomacy in a month — dialing in to Xi's vision for post-pandemic world

In June 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping made four overseas trips to five countries in just one month, setting a record in the diplomatic history of the People's Republic of China.

This June, conventional face-to-face diplomacy has been put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic, but with a virtual summit and a meeting attended, telephone conversations with foreign leaders conducted, letters written and speeches made, Xi's diplomatic schedule remained tight.

Chinese President Xi Jinping chairs the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 and delivers a keynote speech at the summit in Beijing, capital of China, June 17, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

During the month, Xi interacted with a long list of foreign leaders from countries in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific islands, in which he called for solidarity against the pandemic, efforts to support economic recovery, and building a global community of health for all.

Cooperation powerful weapon against pandemic

During the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 held on June 17 via video link, Xi said solidarity and cooperation are "the most powerful weapon" against COVID-19.

In phone conversations and letter exchanges with foreign leaders, Xi urged countries to coordinate efforts and support each other in fighting the common enemy of humanity.

With a "people first, life first" principle and a cooperative mindset, he also vowed China's support for other countries.

"China will continue to offer firm support for Costa Rica's fight against COVID-19 as the coronavirus disease outbreak remains serious in Latin America," Xi told his Costa Rican counterpart Carlos Alvarado on June 5, in one of those conversations.

With openness, transparency and a sense of responsibility, China has pursued and promoted international cooperation in its COVID-19 response and has done everything to the best of its ability to support the international fight against the outbreak, Xi said in a congratulatory letter to the China-Arab States Political Parties Dialogue Extraordinary Meeting held on June 22.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China has been particularly concerned about the needs of developing countries. At the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 held on June 17, Xi pledged to continue providing material assistance to African countries, dispatch medical experts, start ahead of schedule the construction of the Africa CDC headquarters this year, and speed up the construction of China-Africa Friendship Hospitals and the cooperation between paired-up Chinese and African hospitals.

Coordination vital for global economic recovery

Few signs show that the COVID-19 pandemic is ebbing, as the global caseload has surpassed 10 million, and countries like the United States is reporting over 50,000 new cases a day.

The pandemic has also plunged the global economy into a deep recession. The International Monetary Fund has projected a global contraction of 4.9 percent this year.

In the face of the gloomy prospects for the pandemic situation and the global economy, Xi has been communicating closely with world leaders, looking to common development plans to drive economic recovery in the post-pandemic world.

In his video conference with President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on June 22, Xi said China and the European Union should serve as two major forces to maintain global peace and stability, pointing to the direction for China-Europe relations in the post-pandemic period.

"Our two major economies should play the role as dual engines of the world economy, drive the recovery of global economy, jointly support a scientific and orderly resumption of work and production, strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination, and keep global industrial and supply chains stable and smooth," Xi said.

Regarding China-Africa cooperation, Xi said greater priority needs to be given to cooperation on public health, economic reopening, and people's livelihood.

Coordination and openness are frequently mentioned in Xi's interaction with foreign leaders, as countries are struggling to ease lockdowns and phase in economic recovery.

For instance, he suggested China and Tajikistan coordinate efforts to contain the pandemic and promote bilateral trade, and be open to new ideas to ensure the implementation of key projects in the joint construction of the Belt and Road.

He told French President Emmanuel Macron that the Chinese market is open, expressing hopes that the French side will make full use of the "fast track" arrangement to facilitate business trips to China so as to help French enterprises in China resume business.

Multilateralism key to post-pandemic world order

The world, suffering from the impact of the pandemic, is undergoing profound changes and becoming more unstable and uncertain. In a written message to the High-level Video Conference on Belt and Road International Cooperation on June 18, Xi reiterated his stance of upholding multilateralism amid the uncertainty.

"Be it in taming the virus or in achieving economic recovery, we cannot succeed without solidarity, cooperation, and multilateralism," he said.

In March, Xi for the first time proposed building a global community of health for all in his message to French President Macron. Public health security being a common challenge faced by humanity, Xi's proposal has boosted hope and confidence in global anti-pandemic efforts.

However, in the global fight against the pandemic, certain country adopted an unilateral approach by defunding the World Health Organization, and in an effort to shift the blame for its poor handling of the outbreak, stigmatized China and politicized the virus in total disregard of the facts.

"No matter how the international situation changes, China will take the side of multilateralism and adhere to the global governance concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits," Xi told European leaders.

In his message to the High-level Video Conference on Belt and Road International Cooperation, he set new expectations for the Belt and Road Initiative, a grand multilateral cooperation framework proposed by him in 2013 to seek common development with countries along and beyond the ancient Silk Road.

China will work with its partners to develop the Belt and Road into a model of cooperation for meeting challenges through unity, a model of health for protecting people's safety and well-being, a model of recovery for restoring economic and social activity, and a model of growth for unlocking development potential, Xi said.