Xi's speech at anti-virus summit hailed

Senegalese President Macky Sall attends the summit via video link on Wednesday. XINHUA 

Mamadou Saliou Bah, director of Guinea's Laboratories of the National Health Security Agency, said working together to fight the epidemic has undoubtedly deepened the friendship between China and Africa.

Humphrey Moshi, professor of economics at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, said that the summit is a continuation of China-Africa friendship and cooperation.

President Xi's remarks at the summit show "China cherishes its friendship with Africa and both sides regard cooperation as an effective way to address COVID-19", Moshi said.

Peter Kagwanja, president of the Africa Policy Institute, an independent, nonprofit Pan-African think tank in Kenya, said that "Xi's main point in his address, and indeed his diplomatic genius, is in recognizing the equal, mutual and reciprocal relationship between Africa and China in fighting against COVID-19".

The disease knows no race and no borders, he said, and the joint fight against the virus has strengthened trust and understanding between the African and Chinese peoples.

Boubacar Abdou, technical adviser to the president of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council in Niger, said that China has played a decisive role in the fight against COVID-19 worldwide, and particularly in Africa, by reaching out to others.

"It must be recognized that in the fight against the pandemic, China has been an important partner for Africa in general and West Africa in particular," Abdou said.