China's cultural, institutional strength vital to curbing COVID-19: political advisor
People's Daily
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BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese culture of truly respecting people's health and life, a system to ensure the solidarity of the whole society, and ever-growing national strength were key to China's effective containment of the COVID-19 epidemic, a leading medical expert said Thursday.

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Photo: CGTN

Wang Chen, president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, made the remarks in his capacity as a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, on the sidelines of its annual session which opened on Thursday.

Chinese culture truly values people's health and life and such values have been reflected in the public's unified commitment to life-saving actions, decisiveness in policy making, and professionalism of medical workers who are always ready to serve the people, Wang said.

China has a system to ensure that when facing major difficulties and challenges, its people can unite as one to overcome difficulties together. Under such a system, the country can pool resources and mobilize various forces to deal with the severe challenge, he said.

Remarkably improved national strength over the past 70 years also played a significant role in curbing the epidemic, he added.

Wang, also a renowned respiratory specialist and vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, had joined other leading experts to guide the anti-virus work in the hard-hit city of Wuhan since February.

He highlighted the need to improve the country's public health system.

"An important point is to enhance the combination of medical treatment and prevention. Only through the integration of the two aspects can we better handle major challenges," he said. Enditem