Help in the storm

Fighting against COVID-19 together in the same boat, China and Finland are writing a new chapter in their history of cooperation

Not long ago, Finland announced the end to its COVID-19 state of emergency, highlighting the achievement it had made in the fight against the novel coronavirus and that people could finally start to resume normal life.

The pandemic has brought profound changes to the world in the past several months. And China and Finland have always supported each other.

Finland confirmed its first case of COVID-19 infection in late January, making it the third European country to have a confirmed case. The person concerned, who was a Chinese traveler, was cured and discharged from a hospital in northern Finland very quickly. The swift and proper handling of the public health emergency by the Finnish authorities and the calm attitude of the whole of society have been impressive.

Unfortunately, Europe became one of the hardest-hit areas and the whole of northern Europe, including Finland, was badly affected. In response, Finland adopted a package of measures, declaring its first state of emergency since World War II, invoking the security of supply reserves for the first time and closing off the region of Helsinki-Uusimaa.

China and Finland have maintained close exchanges and provided assistance to each other for pandemic prevention and control. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto expressed condolences to the Chinese people and support to China's efforts in the fight against the virus.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with President Niinisto on the phone, and expressed China's willingness to share its pandemic prevention and control experience with Finland and help it ease its shortage of medical supplies. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also exchanged messages with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Health Commission held a videoconference with Finland and another 17 European countries to share China's experience of COVID-19 prevention and control. The Chinese side also offered the Finnish side multiple editions of COVID-19 diagnostic and treatment plans, which were appreciated by the latter.

The two countries have also kept sound cooperation at local and civil levels. Shanghai, Nanjing in Jiangsu province and Dujiangyan in Sichuan province have all donated masks and other medical resources to their Finnish sister and friendly cities. Experiences were shared via videoconference and in other forms between Zhejiang province in China and the Helsinki-Uusimaa region in Finland and between Beijing and Helsinki. Chinese companies such as Tencent volunteered to donate medical resources to hospitals in Finland. Enterprises from both sides engaged in positive communication and coordination and Chinese companies assisted their Finnish counterparts in purchasing urgently-needed materials.

The Finland-dedicated China-Europe Railway Express has ensured smooth transportation of trade and goods in the past months. Chinese people and students living and studying in Finland comply with local rules and measures on a willing basis, strengthening hygiene and protection, helping each other and thus making positive contribution to the joint control efforts of China and Finland.

Since the outbreak of the virus, we have maintained close communication with the Finnish government, schools, hospitals and other departments and agencies, and made the request that the Finnish side provide visas, residence permits, access to school and hospital and other necessary assistance to Chinese citizens in Finland who are affected by the pandemic. We mobilized resources from all possible sources to offer protective materials to Chinese students and those Chinese in difficulty in Finland. We have done our utmost to give our fellow countrymen consular protection and assistance.

The virus respects no national boundaries and the fight against it is a smokeless war. This anti-pandemic fight has once again proved that humanity is a community with a shared future and that all countries should work together in solidarity and cooperate to secure a final victory.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Finland. In the past seven decades, our friendship has endured the tests of time and is growing stronger and unleashing new vitality. Especially in the past several years, China-Finland ties have achieved rapid growth in various aspects thanks to our joint efforts. We witnessed together several highlights in our relationship, such as mutual visits by our state leaders, the establishment of China-Finland future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership, the arrival of Chinese pandas in Finland and the 2019 China-Finland Year of Winter Sports.

The pandemic will be overcome eventually and the rainbow will rise after the storm. I sincerely hope that the two peoples can go back to their normal work and life as soon as possible, reunite with each other in a healthy world and join hands in writing new chapters for China-Finland friendship.

The author is the Chinese ambassador to Finland. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.