Experts: Global solidarity needed to fight COVID-19, economic slowdown

Yu Yongding, senior fellow and academician of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believed China will win the battle against the coronavirus. "While implementing most strict social distancing policy despite the huge economic and social costs, the government devised ways to help businesses survive the crisis, focusing in particular on small and medium-size services firms."

"The Chinese economy is very resilient. Experience over the past 40 years shows that whatever difficulties it faces, China eventually will come through. According to the IMF, China accounted for 40 percent of global economic growth in 2019, larger than the combined contributions to global growth of the US, EU and Japan. I am quite confident that it will do the same, if not more, in 2020 and beyond," Yu added.

Considering the global efforts to fight the coronavirus, Alexander Lomanov, deputy director for Scientific Work, head of the Center for the Asia-Pacific Studies of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, noted the world community failed to fully utilize the potential of international organizations in the first half of 2020, saying the attacks on the WHO by the leading power and its withdrawal from the organization have demonstrated the lack of readiness for coordinated joint action.

"In the first place we have the task of restoring trust among the nation-states. The only alternative to blackmail is dialogue. The only alternative to the arbitrary application of sanctions is a reliable and effective mechanism for world trade. The only alternative to unilateralism is adherence to the international law," Lomanov said.

According to Lomanov, the coronavirus pandemic and the global economic downturn have reminded the world about the need to reform and improve global governance mechanisms. "The problem is that the searches for coordinated steps in this direction remains slow. The current crisis situation requires quick and flexible responses."