Photo: China's medical supplies to Maldives

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to provide support and assistance for the Maldives as required, and share experience in prevention and control, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Maldivian counterpart, Abdulla Shahid, in a phone call on Thursday.

Wang said that during the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, China has always been committed to safeguarding the health and safety of the Chinese people and making contributions to the international public health cause.

China's arduous efforts have bought precious time and provided useful experience for the global fight against the pandemic, he added.

Upholding the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, China is providing urgently-needed medical supplies to more than 120 countries, Wang said.

The attempts to stigmatize China will get nowhere, Wang said, and such attempts are not conducive to the virus fights in their own countries or the international cooperation in combating the pandemic, and will not win the support of the international community.

The Chinese side appreciates the Maldivian side's objective and fair position on the issue, he added.

Wang pointed out that the Maldives, based on its national conditions, has taken effective measures to contain the epidemic to the greatest extent  since the outbreak.

He said the Chinese side believes that under the leadership of Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the country will surely overcome the epidemic.

Noting that China and Maldives are good friends and always lend each other a helping hand when in difficulties, Wang said China is ready to provide support and assistance according to the needs of the Maldivian side, carry out exchanges and cooperation among experts and share experience in prevention and control.

It is believed that through joint efforts to prevail over the epidemic, bilateral relations will make new progress, he added.

For his part, Shahid said the Maldives highly appreciates China's constructive role in the global fight against the novel coronavirus, adding that the Maldives is firmly opposed to any stigmatization and discrimination against China and the Chinese people.

China sets a model of global cooperation in fighting the pandemic by actively helping other countries and sharing experience in prevention and control, he said.

Shahid also expressed gratitude for China's timely medical assistance, saying that the country stands ready to strengthen anti-epidemic cooperation with China to tide over difficulties.