An airport staff member unloads Chinese medical supplies in Ljubljana, Slovenia, May 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)
Noting that China has sent medical aid to and shared knowledge with dozens of countries, a Turkish expert said that "China has maintained close contact with other nations on the novel coronavirus and acted responsibly, and also with a high level of reactivity."
by Burak Akinci
ANKARA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- China's aid to Belt and Road partner countries and the experience it shared with them during the COVID-19 pandemic are valuable and renders the Health Silk Road more concrete, experts have said.
"China has actually done its share for its quick response to the outbreak and the responsible stance that it adopted during the process," Muhammet Mustafa Aydogan, director of the Ankara-based Bosphorus Center for Asian Studies, told Xinhua.
Chinese experts check a COVID-19 patient's situation in Lao government-designated Mittaphab Hospital (Hospital 150) in Vientiane, Laos, April 11, 2020. (Chinese anti-epidemic medical expert team/Handout via Xinhua)
Noting that China has sent medical aid to and shared knowledge with dozens of countries, he said that "China has maintained close contact with other nations on the novel coronavirus and acted responsibly, and also with a high level of reactivity."
The Health Silk Road is an initiative linked to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which is aimed at improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating growth of the countries along and beyond the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road.
A worker unloads medical supplies brought by an anti-COVID-19 medical team from China to Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia, April 18, 2020. (Chinese Embassy in Malaysia/Handout via Xinhua)
With Turkey and some European countries now hard hit by the coronavirus, corridors, ports and logistics hubs along the Belt and Road are now being used to provide medical support to partner countries.
China sent 50,000 rapid detection kits to Turkey on March 23 and another 300,000 a few days later. Furthermore, China shared information with Turkey through video conferences on treatment of COVID-19 patients, Turkish doctors told Xinhua.
Staff members unload medical donations from China at Algiers International Airport, Algeria, April 21, 2020. (Xinhua)
"Our cooperation was helpful to both countries in the medical knowledge field. We have learned from China's experience to defeat the coronavirus, and we also shared our experience and the protocols that we have used on our patients," a Turkish diplomat told Xinhua.
The official, who declined to be named, said that Turkey values China's help, assistance and cooperation demonstrated throughout this global health crisis.
"We can only defeat the virus with global cooperation," he added. ■
