Asean ‘ready’ to be included in China’s $2B COVID-19 aid

Last updated on May 7th, 2021 at 06:29 am

JAKARTA – China announced on Friday that it is ready to extend assistance to their Southeast Asian neighbors amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

According to Chinese ambassador to Asean Deng Xijun, President Xi Jinping is committed to extending the international aid on nations affected by the pandemic, including the South east Asian region.

Deng has indicated that Asean can benifit from this aid but both sides needs to strengthen coordination in handling the crisis. They are ready to provide training and equipments to health professionals in Southeast Asia to help curb the spread of the virus.

Xi Jingping also instructed their medical experts to share with Asean countries its experiences of fighting the deadly virus.

Beijing also pledged that the country would not monopolized the vaccine when it is developed.

Earlier this month, Xi, in a speech delivered at the 73rd World Health Assembly, presented measures that China is adopting to fight the deadly Covid-19 on a global scale. That includes $2 billion international aid, establishment of global humanitarian crisis response hub and distribution of vaccine.

The Covid-19 cases on the Asean region has climbed to 84,000 with 2,620 deaths. The virus first originated in China’s central city of Wuhan.

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