On March 20, the Chinese enterprises and communities in South Africa donated 3 million rand and testing kits to the South African government to firmly support SA's fight against the COVID-19. Chinese Ambassador to South Africa H.E. Mr. Lin Songtian, ANC Secretary General Elias Magashule,Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize, President of South Africa-China Economic and Trade Association Wang Wen'an, CEO of Huawei (South Africa) Fan Wen, Chairman of South Africa Chinese Community & Police Forum Li Xinzhu, and Chairman of All Africa Association for Peaceful Reunification of China Xu Changbin attended the ceremony.Diplomats of the Chinese Embassy and representatives of Chinese businesses and Chinese community were also present at the event.

Ambassador Lin said that under the strong leadership and personal command and deployment of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government and people have decisively taken the most comprehensive, stringent and thorough measures at all costs, deployed and mobilized the resources nationwide, and unprecedentedly locked down a city with 11 million people, so as to resolutely and effectively contain and defeat the epidemic within China. We have gained time for, and made great sacrifices and contributions to the prevention and control efforts of other countries, which fully demonstrates the responsibility of a major country. The "Chinese solutions" and "Chinese prescriptions"for anti-epidemic efforts have been effective.

Ambassador Lin said that there have been no new confirmed cases within China for two consecutive days, and all the new confirmed cases found in China are imported from other countries.More than 70,000 people have been cured and discharged from the hospital in Chinese mainland.All the makeshift hospitals in Hubei have been closed, and the medical staff who came to Hubei's rescue have gradually completed their mission and are returning home.I am proud to say that out of the millions of foreigners in China, only 29 have been infected, and only 2 have died.Only one of the more than 80,000 African students in China was infected and now has been discharged from hospital. There are no confirmed cases among the 3,000 South African students and other South African citizens in China. South Africa and other African countries have no confirmed cases imported from China.The health and safety of foreign citizens in China have been effectively safeguarded.

Ambassador Lin pointed out that unfortunately, the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the world, affecting more than 170 countries and regions, with a total of more than 160,000 confirmed cases outside China, twice the number in China. The ability, speed and scope of the spreading of the virus are beyond people's imagination.This is a global battle between man and nature. In the age of globalization, all countries' interests are intertwined and no country is immune or can fight alone.The only right choice is to stay committed to building a community with a shared future for mankind, preventing and controlling the disease in a scientific manner, and joining hands to fight the epidemic.

Ambassador Lin said that now the epidemic is spreading rapidly in South Africa and other African countries, affecting more than half of African countries.Since the first confirmed case found in South Africa on March 5, the number of confirmed cases has soared to 202 in just two weeks, making South Africa the country with the largest number of confirmed cases in sub-Saharan Africa, and the situation now is very challenging. We will never forget the understanding and support our South African friends from all walks of life gave to China, especially the generous donations made by South African enterprises to firmly support China in its fight against the epidemic.As a good friend, good partner and good brother of South Africa, the Chinese government and people have provided and will continue to provide assistance to South Africa to the best of our capacity, and share our anti-epidemic experience, so as to resolutely support South Africa in defeating the epidemic.

Ambassador Lin said that Chinese enterprises and communities in South Africa are taking actions. Today, they are here to donate 3 million rand to the South African government to support SA's fight against the epidemic, of which 1 million Rand is donated by Huawei alone, a household name to South African friends.In addition, the Chinese enterprise has provided 50 testing reagents to South Africa, and another 500 have just arrived in SA for delivery. The Chinese government will provide 5000 more testing reagents to South Africa.This donation reflects our brotherhood and solidarity with the South African government and people, as well as our firm support and strong confidence in South Africa's victory over the epidemic.

Ambassador Lin said that we have also coordinated Chinese enterprises in South to first provide raw materials for local mask manufacturers in a timely manner, and supported local overseas Chinese to urgently order mask production equipment from China. The equipment has arrived in South Africa today, and it is estimated that the daily production capacity of masks will be about 150000 after it is put into operation.We also encourage Chinese enterprises to export more masks and other medical supplies to South Africa to meet the local demand for the battle.The Chinese government and people will as always stand firmly with the South African government and people until the final victory is achieved.

On behalf of the South African government and people, Minister Zweli Mkhize first expressed his sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Chinese government and people for the valuable support and assistance at this critical moment. He said that the donation is a mark of the friendship, solidarity and partnership between the Chinese people and South African people to assist SA go through the challenges and defeat the epidemic.I will report to President Ramaphosa who chaired the National Command Council on China's generous donation and firm support.

Minister Zweli Mkhize also thanked China for setting good lessons for fighting against the epidemic.China has taken decisive and firm steps to effectively contain the spread of the virus, such as self-isolation, building two specialized hospitals in less than 10 days and a large number of makeshift hospitals. China has finished an impossible task and set a good example for the global fight against the epidemic. These are important lessons for other countries of the world to learn.South Africa also hopes to learn from Beijing and other metropolises of China in the management of personnel flow, so as to resolutely stop the spreading of the virus and human-to-human transmitting.

Minister Zweli Mkhize said that he also wants to thank the Chinese government and people for looking after the South African citizens in China.At present, there are no single infection of South African citizen among the more than 80,000confirmed cases in China, and no South African citizen evacuated from Wuhan has been infected and no one has complained.I would like to clear an important matter on an earlier statement of the Department of Health that "a confirmed case in Free State province has contacted a Chinese businessman". The inaccurate information was released without proper verification. The department immediately corrected that and apologized for the error. I would like to clarify once again that none of the confirmed cases in South Africa have been imported from China.Minister Zweli Mkhize said that he would like to thank the Chinese enterprises and communities in South China, who are important contributors to South Africa's economic and social development and true friends of South Africa.South Africa and China are family, brothers and friends. South Africa highly values its close and friendly relations with China. We hope to support each other and work with our Chinese brothers to defeat the epidemic. May the friendship between South and China be everlasting!

ANC Secretary General Elias Magashule expressed his sincere gratitude to China for extending a helping hand to South Africa at the testing time, which once again shows that our two Parties and two states are good friends, good partners and good brothers.The CPC and Chinese government have supported South Africa on many occasions, and China has made tremendous contributions to the friendship between the two Parties and two states.The ANC, the South African government and the South African people will always remember and reciprocate it. Secretary General Magashule believed that South Africa, China and the world will win the final victory against the epidemic.Long live the Chinese and South African people!Long live the Communist Party of China!Long live the ANC!

Wang Wen'an, President of the South-China Economic and Trade Association, said that the donation of Chinese enterprises to South Africa's anti-epidemic efforts demonstrates the responsibility of Chinese enterprises to give back to South African society.We are willing to continue to firmly support the South African government in fighting against the epidemic and firmly believe that with our joint efforts, South Africa will defeat the epidemic at an early date.

Fan Wen, the CEO of Huawei South Africa, said that at this difficult time, Huawei firmly stands with the South African people, supports the South African government in fighting against the epidemic and believes that South Africa will rise above the epidemic.As a global 5G leader, in addition to donating cash, Huawei is also willing to help the South Africa fight the epidemic with high technology.

During the ceremony, Ambassador Lin Songtian, President Wang Wen'an, CEO Fan Wen and representatives of leaders of Chinese communities handed over the donation cheque to Minister Zweli Mkhize, as well as the testing kits provided by Beijing Genomics Institute.

After the donation ceremony, Ambassador Lin also held talks with Minister Zweli Mkhize to share China's experience in fighting against the epidemic and explore how to strengthen cooperation to jointly defeat the virus.