As its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic has entered a critical stage, China has announced that it would stick to the dynamic zero-COVID approach, which has proved effective over the past more than two years.
The announcement came as a great relief and inspiration for the world as many countries are still going back and forth between tight and loose approaches when dealing with constant resurgences of the pandemic.
Scholars and experts from around the world have pointed out that China's dynamic zero-COVID approach is the best choice for the world's most populous country, and China's success in holding its ground would be vital for the world to clinch a final victory over the deadly pathogen.
MORE THAN TWO YEARS OF SUCCESS
The Chinese mainland on Monday reported 3,297 locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 3,084 were in Shanghai, where 17,332 local asymptomatic carriers were also registered. Yet China still has not wavered in upholding the dynamic zero-COVID approach.
China's confidence in the approach stems from its success in keeping the disease largely under control for the last two-plus years.
Even though thousands of daily cases have been reported recently, China is still one of the countries with the world's lowest infection rates.
The flexible approach has also enabled China to strike a fine balance between pandemic control and economic development.
Among major economies, China has been the first to bring the pandemic largely under control, the first to resume work and production, and the first to achieve economic growth. In 2021, China's GDP increased by 8.1 percent over the previous year and its foreign trade exceeded 6 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time.
"When you look at the world, we can say that China's method is more suitable when considering public health," Bulent Ertugrul, an expert from Reyap Hospital in Istanbul, told Xinhua, noting that the dynamic zero-COVID approach has proved a significant success in China.
Echoing Ertugrul's words, Ethiopia's National COVID-19 Response Task Force Coordinator Mebratu Massebo said China's dynamic zero-COVID approach can be recognized as "a very ideal response" to the pandemic.
"I am confident that with its stringent policy in place, China will wipe out the pandemic shortly and effectively," Massebo added.
