Chronicle of Xi's leadership in China's war against coronavirus

PEOPLE FIRST

In essence, what Xi commands is a "people's war." By and large, it is a war waged by the people and for the people, embodying the fundamental purpose of the CPC, the world's largest ruling political party -- to serve the people wholeheartedly.

"People" is the most prominent recurring word in the meetings he chaired and the instructions he issued.

Xi has stressed putting people's lives and health first and placing their interests above anything else. He demanded closely relying on the people to win the war. He also said all prevention and control measures of the CPC Central Committee were taken with the primary consideration of preventing infections among the people and saving lives.

China has made COVID-19 treatment free, pledging to treat every patient and leave no one unattended.

The oldest COVID-19 patient saved in China is 108 years old.

"We saved lives at all costs. We never gave up no matter how old a patient was or how serious their condition was," Xi said.

Jiao Yahui, an official with the National Health Commission, said the elderly were among the most difficult to treat and required more medical resources than others.

"But China has given every patient equal treatment, in disregard of their age or wealth," she said, adding that this reflects the traditional Chinese virtues Xi has emphasized that put people first in state governance.

Jiao said China has far fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths than major developed nations in Europe and North America.

Xi developed close ties to the people early in life. At 15, he went to the village of Liangjiahe in Shaanxi province, and spent seven years there, working and living with peasants on the Loess Plateau.

Meeting the press after the 18th CPC National Congress, Xi said, "People's aspirations for a better life are what we should fight for."

Xi has made people's health a major focus. Not long after he was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in 2012, he traveled to a village clinic to learn about the new rural cooperative medical system.

He has repeatedly stressed that without good health for all, there would be no moderately prosperous society in all respects.

On Feb 10, when the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Beijing reached 342, Xi put on his mask and visited a residential community, a hospital and a district disease prevention and control center. He held out his wrist to have his body temperature checked upon entering every location.

Xi chatted with residents in a street, asking them about the prices of vegetables.

"Let's not shake hands at this unusual time," Xi said. "We must have confidence that we can prevail over the epidemic."

"We absolutely can beat it," the residents responded.

A month later, Xi visited a residential community in Wuhan. At this time, daily new confirmed cases on the mainland had dropped to 24, but Wuhan still had 14,514 COVID-19 patients. The task of containment remained arduous.

Walking between apartment blocks, Xi looked up and waved to residents under lockdown who stuck out their heads from their windows and balconies to greet him.

"Let's keep it up! Hold on for a little longer!" Xi said.

Speaking at a symposium in Wuhan, he made a special request for officials to supply more fish, a favorite food of Wuhan people.

Andrey Ostrovsky, deputy director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said Xi's Wuhan inspection was a clear testament to the Party's principle of putting people's lives and health first.

Xi cares deeply about medical workers. He demanded maximum efforts to reduce the loss of life and instructed cadres to relieve medical workers' stress, provide for their basic needs and give them enough rest and encouragement.

At Huoshenshan Hospital, Xi spoke to fully gowned doctors by video link. "I can't see your whole faces as you are all wearing protective gowns and masks. But in my heart, you are the most beloved people," he said.

Chen Jing, a lead nurse of the hospital's intensive care unit, said she was touched by Xi's visit and felt stronger than ever with the leadership and people firmly standing by medical workers.

On International Workers' Day, Xi wrote to the staff of a household service company in central China. He lauded a wide range of working people from sanitation workers, deliverymen to workers producing anti-epidemic supplies. Their hard work and contributions, Xi said, had gathered tremendous strength to prevail over the epidemic.

On International Nurses Day, Xi applauded nurses who braved the danger to save lives during the COVID-19 fight. On China's Doctors' Day, Xi again lauded medical workers who fought tenaciously against the virus on the front line.

Xi was concerned about Chinese citizens' safety abroad and asked embassies, consulates, overseas Chinese associations and student unions to ramp up support. The government arranged flights to bring back Chinese students and other people in need from Iran, Italy, Britain and other countries.

Cadres, Xi said, must shoulder their responsibilities for the people. Those who disobey orders, be self-serving, fail to take on responsibilities or have undesirable conduct will be punished. In serious cases, the supervisors of wrongdoers will be held accountable too, Xi said.

On April 4, Xi led the nation of 1.4 billion to observe three minutes of silence for the lives lost to the coronavirus. This year's "two sessions" also opened with the mourning of the fallen, once again demonstrating the people-first spirit.