Jakarta (VNA) – Ambassador Deng Xijun, head of theChinese mission to ASEAN, affirmed his country’s strong support for Vietnam’schairmanship of the bloc in 2020 during a recent interview with the VietnamNews Agency.

The Special ASEAN Summit and the Special ASEAN+3Summit, which gathered leaders of ASEAN countries and China, Japan and theRepublic of Korea, on COVID-19 were held online under the chair of Vietnam on April14.

Ambassador Deng said China has followed closelyon the efforts of ASEAN led by Vietnam as the Chair in promoting cooperation inthe fight against COVID-19.

According to him, the release of the Chairman’sStatement on ASEAN Collective Response to the Outbreak of COVID-19, and theconvening of a series of important special video conferences and meetings amongASEAN member states and among ASEAN 3 countries, including the latest SpecialASEAN Summit and Special ASEAN+3 Summit, all demonstrate the strong leadershipof Vietnam as the ASEAN Chair and the ASEAN+3 Chair.

He held that these efforts have shown thesolidarity and willingness to enhance cooperation of regional countries in thisbattle and greatly helped with the policy coordination and sharing ofinformation, experience, best practices and technologies, which will eventuallybring victory over COVID-19 in the region.

The diplomat also expressed thanks to theVietnamese government and people for their support and assistance to Chinaafter the outbreak of COVID-19, affirming that China is ready to work moreclosely with Vietnam and other ASEAN member states to safeguard the healthsecurity of the peoples in the region.

Regarding the Special ASEAN+3 Summit on thecoronavirus disease, Deng said this event was the first special meeting so faramong ASEAN+3 leaders since the mechanism was set up, and also the firstleaders’ meeting that covers the East Asia region in response to COVID-19.

This milestone in the ASEAN+3 cooperationhistory highlighted once again the countries’ fine tradition of mutualassistance in times of difficulties, as well as the close bond between eachother, he said, noting that held at a challenging time when countries aroundthe world are battling COVID-19, the meeting produced strong political momentumfor the collective response of the region.

Ambassador Deng added the consensus reached atthe summit made clear both the goal and route to revitalise regional economyafter the pandemic, which will greatly boost market confidence, provide strongmomentum to economic growth in the region, and contribute to the development ofEast Asia./.