At Asia House @asiahouseuk webinar, I had a good Q&A discussion with online audience.
Q: UK is fighting Covid-19.What can China do to assist?
A: China reciprocates UK’s medical support. 750 ventilators have already been shipped to UK. More to come!

Q: How to support multilateralism during and after COVID-19?
A: First, the WHO plays a very important role at this critical moment. I am pleased that the UK government decided to continue to support the WHO.

A: Second, we should support the WTO. Trade liberalisation and facilitation is still our goal. China would like to work with the UK.

Q: In the long term, what topics should we focus?
A: Climate change is one of them. Although China and UK have to postpone COP15 and COP26, the preparations are still going on. The working teams of two countries are still talking to each other online.

Q:What’s your view on China-US relationship?
A: China-US relations must be based on mutual respect, non-confrontation and mutual collaboration. We want good relations with the US but it takes two to tango.

A: It is not only in the interests of China and the US to have a sound and good relationship, but it's also in the interests of the world.

Q: What specific messages are going to come out of the NPC meeting this year in terms of battling the virus and also a return to economic normality?
A: It will set policies not only for the development of China for this year. It will also draw the 14th Five-Year Plan.

A: COVID-19 not only poses challenges but also creates opportunities. I think delegates of the NPC and deputies of the CPPCC will focus on the new areas and new points of growth of the future development.

Q: What's your thought on China’s continued emergence from its crisis and the continued raced-up of China’s economy?
A: As 99% of the major industries have resumed, China will continue to be the powerhouse of the world economy.

A: China is a source of medical supplies. From Mar. 1 to Apr. 10, China exported about 7.2bn masks, 35.57mn protective gowns, 20k ventilators and 13mn goggles. China will not only contribute to the global response to the virus, but also help build the industrial and supply chain.

A: China is committed to building an open world economy. China has achieved success in the past 40 years because of the policy of reform and opening up. Reform will go on and China will open wider to the world.

Q:What are the further opportunities to strengthen UK-China relationship?
A:Our relationship is strong at a very high level. President Xi&PM Johnson had 2 phone conversations within 1+month. I’ve never seen top leaders have such intensive communications in such a short period.

A:China and UK scientists are working very closely on the vaccine. Both President Xi and Prime Minister Johnson expressed their support to work together in this very important area.

A: China and UK work very closely in the international arena. We see UK as partner for China on the Belt and Road. We can share experience and can work together on climate change, as we are both advocates for environmental protection.

A: There's a great future for China-UK trade. Last year, our bilateral trade set a new record and increased more than 7%. UK is China’s 3rd largest trading partner in Europe. China is the UK’s 3rd largest export market. Chinese investment is also coming to the UK.

Q: How will modern technologies like virtual meeting facilitate the dialogue between our two countries, and whether the Embassy can play a role?
A: Once you have Huawei participating in the 5G development, the speed and quality of these online meetings will be even better.

A: We encourage online meetings. We hope that not only the leaders of our two countries talk to each other, but also business leaders.

A: We should stay committed to free trade, to business friendly environment. UK is well known for its support for free and open economy. That's UK’s secret of success and why UK become No.1 destination for Chinese investment.

Q: Will China cooperate with any independent international investigation into origin of this pandemic?
A: China has been open, transparent&responsible from the very beginning. Speculation and disinformation that the Chinese are covering up and hiding something are not true.

A: This is not the era of “gunboat diplomacy”. This is not the era when China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. This is the third decade of the 21st century. Some people think they still live in the old days when they can bully China and bully the world.

A: International cooperation is the only weapon to win this battle against the virus. Not by scape-goating, not by playing games, not by politicizing the virus, not by spreading political virus. We have to guard against this while fighting this invisible enemy.

A: China is not an enemy of US. China is a friend of the United States, a partner for the United States in fighting against the virus. Despite the politicians spreading disinformation about China, China has sent 1.8 billion face masks to the US, about 6 masks per person in US.

Q: Where specifically do you think China want to prioritize after this pandemic?
A: First is to resume production. We strike a balance between fighting against the virus and ensuring a gradual resumption of production.

A: We also have to guard against the recurrence of the virus. The government has adopted strict measures with regard to imported cases. We have to be careful to ensure that the progress achieved so far will not be reversed by suddenly lifting restrictions.

A: We engage actively with the UK and rest of the world. We have important agenda in front of us, like climate change. I'm working now with UK senior officials on how we can engage with each other to pick up the momentum and resume where we left before the outbreak.