The COVID-19 pandemic is the worst pandemic to hit humanity in a century. It has caused a serious impact on the economic and social development of various countries, and has tested governance around the world.

In the face of the unexpected pandemic, China has fought a great war against the novel coronavirus in the past eight months, during which it made great efforts and created another heroic feat in the history of mankind’s battle against diseases.

Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, China has brought into full play its institutional advantages and quickly organized and mobilized various forces in a fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

State-owned enterprises and public hospitals have taken on responsibilities for the fight; more than 4.6 million grassroots Party organizations have fought the virus on the frontline; over 4 million community workers have performed their duties day and night in 650,000 rural and urban communities across the country; various organizations, including private companies and hospitals, charity organizations, old people’s homes, and charity houses have made active efforts to fight the pandemic; CPC members and cadres have taken the lead in contributing to the nationwide fight against the disease; several million delivery people have stuck to their posts and risen to the challenge amid the pandemic; 1.8 million sanitation workers have worked from dawn to night despite difficulties; and numerous volunteers and ordinary people across the country have contributed to an early victory over the COVID-19  in their own way.

It was its remarkable organization and mobilization capabilities that enabled China to unite its huge number of diverse social groups in a short period of time, and form a mighty force in the face of the public health crisis, with everyone being of one mind and sharing weal and woe in solidarity.        

As a major country with 1.4 billion people, China must coordinate work in various aspects to effectively prevent and control the spread of the COVID-19.

Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, 19 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities around the country have paired up with 16 cities and autonomous prefectures of the virus-hit Hubei province except its capital city Wuhan, and sent their best medical workers, the most urgently needed resources, and the most advanced equipment from various corners of the country to these areas in Hubei,  effectively solving the shortage of medical resources and supplies and realizing a dynamic balance in the supply of relevant resources and materials in the shortest time.

At the most difficult stage in China’s battle against the COVID-19, the country pressed the “pause” button on many aspects of its economic and social development. However, the move didn’t affect people’s life much, and social order in the country has been generally normal.

Based on an accurate grasp of the evolving epidemic situation, the CPC took the overall situation into account and made the timely decision to coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development.

While adopting a law- and science-based approach to the prevention and control of the COVID-19, the CPC has taken targeted measures in different regions based on local conditions, to ensure people’s daily life and wellbeing to the greatest possible extent.   

In this battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, China has not only taken the right epidemic prevention and control measures, but demonstrated the extraordinary strength of its socialist system that enables the country to effectively implement decisions and policies.

At the outset of the pandemic, some 540,000 medical workers from Wuhan and other parts of Hubei first declared war against the COVID-19 and fought the novel coronavirus courageously on the frontline. They were soon joined by more than 40,000 medical workers from 346 medical teams sent from various parts of the country, with many people setting foot on the journey to the country’s main battlefield for prevention and control of the novel coronavirus on the Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve, when most Chinese families were enjoying family reunion dinner.

During its COVID-19 fight, China built two makeshift hospitals, the Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan, converted public venues into 16 mobile cabin hospitals, and quickly set up more than 600 centralized isolation centers in about ten days.

Attaching great importance to the integration of scientific research and development into clinical treatment and epidemic control, China has given full play to the role of science and technology in supporting epidemic prevention and control, promptly developed nucleic acid test kits, and constantly intensified efforts to search for effective medicines and speed up vaccine research and development.

With its great capabilities to implement decisions and policies, China has not only protected people’s lives and health to the greatest extent, but become the first major economy in the world to resume growth since the outbreak of the COVID-19.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out, China’s experience in fighting the COVID-19 has once again proven that the strengths of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics are the fundamental guarantee of China’s success in overcoming risks and challenges and improving state governance efficiency.

As long as China keeps adhering to and improving its system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and makes full use of the advantages of its socialist system in coping with various risks and challenges, the country can surely withstand tests, constantly turn adversity into opportunities, secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and poverty alleviation, and achieve a new historic feat on its new journey to fully building a modern socialist China.

(Fang Ning is a researcher at the research center of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and a researcher at the Institute of Political Sciences of the CASS.)