Source: Global Times    Published: 2020-6-11

Domestic and foreign think tank experts from countries including Egypt, Russia and Japan praised China's contribution in helping other countries and regions combat the global pandemic during a forum on Wednesday, while some urged certain Western countries to stop COVID-19 "political manipulation."

Wang Wen, executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, urged the US to stop smearing China and stop shifting the blame to China.

"The most urgent task for all countries and regions is to abandon prejudice and strengthen cooperation to prevent more infections and deaths. Otherwise, societies will plunge into chaos, and economies will stagnate," he said at the forum jointly held by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and several other domestic and foreign think tanks. Over 100 think tank experts and media representatives from 48 countries and nine international organizations attended the forum.

The comments came as US China hawks have adopted a hardline attitude toward China, with some even calling for China to pay compensation for the damage caused by the global pandemic, amid a massive US governmental failure in preventing and controlling COVID-19.

Political manipulation utilizing the virus is unacceptable, Jemal Putkaradze, ministerial advisor to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, said via video at the same forum.

"No one should have the desire that if any country suffers economic damage, it will strengthen the other country. China, as a responsible state, has already set a clear example to the world community," Putkaradze said.

He praised China's assistance to many countries around the world, saying the country provided valuable medical supplies and equipment while the virus in China was raging.

Data from China's General Administration of Customs shows the country exported medical supplies worth 134.4 billion yuan ($19.03 billion) between March 1 and May 16, including 50.9 billion face masks, 216 million protective suits and 72,700 ventilators.

Given the ongoing global pandemic, medical resource shortages in many countries and declining world economic growth, former Prime Minister of Egypt Essam Sharaf said the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an appropriate choice to fight the current crisis, enhance global public health governance and stabilize the global economy.

"The BRI has been successfully transformed from China's initiative, and has become a global initiative, currently joined by more than 160 countries and international organizations. Thus, it offers a platform for countries to conduct cooperation and make joint efforts to seek economic growth," he said.

Branislav Djordjevic, director of the Institute of International Politics and Economics of Serbia, said at the forum that China remains decisive in realizing BRI projects that are aimed at gaining benefits for all participants worldwide.

"Without hidden interest, China invited all good, willing countries to join," Djordjevic said.

According to the latest World Bank forecast, the global economy will shrink by 5.2 percent this year, its deepest recession since World War II.

At the forum, Wang called for all countries and regions to strengthen the stability and opening-up of global supply chains and promote trade and investment convenience in a bid to contribute to a stable world economy.

As the first country in the Caucasus region to sign a trade agreement with China, "Georgia welcomes and facilitates the entry of Chinese investors and Chinese companies into the country, and creates favorable conditions for them," Putkaradze said, noting that the two countries' bilateral trade reached $1 billion thanks to the agreement.

With China being an engine of the international economy, it is more than necessary to keep the Chinese economy stable, Djordjevic said.

Chinese economists recently interviewed by the Global Times said the country's GDP growth rate is expected to reach above 3 percent this year.

Wang Wen is executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China (RDCY). Essam Sharaf is  former Prime Minister of Egypt and non-resident senior fellow of RDCY.