Xi's Wuhan trip boosts confidence in fight against COVID-19, overseas experts say

Chinese President Xi Jinping's inspection trip to Wuhan on Tuesday has demonstrated his care for people's health and safety and assured the world of China's confidence in the final victory over the novel coronavirus, international experts and scholars have said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits patients who are being treated and sends regards to medical workers who have been fighting the epidemic on the front line day and night, encouraging them to firm up confidence in defeating the epidemic, by video calls at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 10, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

On Tuesday, Xi went to Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in central China and the provincial capital of Hubei, for an inspection of the epidemic prevention and control work in Wuhan and Hubei.

Andrey Ostrovsky, deputy director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said Xi's visit to Wuhan shows a leader's responsibility and demonstrates that he cares about his people.

"The visit is important for the Chinese people, especially in the current conditions, when there is such a test not only for the Chinese people, but also for a number of other countries," Ostrovsky said.

Diaa Helmy, secretary-general of Cairo-based Egyptian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said that Xi's visit is a message of appreciation to people living in Wuhan during the epidemic.

It also reflects the solidarity among all segments of the Chinese society, from the leaders to the citizens, he said.

Xi's inspection trip to Wuhan has brought support and encouragement from China's top leadership to people in the city, said Yu Hong, a senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore.

Subhomoy Bhattacharjee, a consultant at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries based in India, said the news of Xi's visit to Wuhan has increased the world's optimism about China's development prospects.

The expert said he believes that China, as an economic engine, will gradually mobilize global production capacity.

Wuhan's experience has proved that epidemic containment can be achieved, and that China's experience in combating the epidemic is scientific and effective, which offers inspirations to the whole world, he said.

Iryna Nykorak, chief executive officer of the Silk Road Association of Ukraine, said that as people now live in a globalized world, the novel coronavirus is a common challenge facing all countries.

The Chinese government has taken effective measures to deal with the epidemic, shared its experience and information with other countries, and done as much as possible to prevent the epidemic from spreading to other countries, she noted.

China has played a fundamental role in the world's fight against the epidemic, she added.