国际英语新闻:It's important for UK, China to cooperate closely to fight COVID-19 pandemic: senior UK off

LONDON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Nigel Adams, Britain's minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development, said it is important for Britain and China to cooperate closely in the battle against COVID-19 pandemic.

Adams made the remarks during a telephone conversation with Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming on Friday. The two exchanged views on China-Britain relationship and joint response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the talks, Adams gave an update of the latest situation regarding COVID-19 in Britain. He also thanked China for facilitating Britain's procurement of medical supplies in China, which played a significant role in Britain's fight against the pandemic.

For his part, Liu said that Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had two telephone conversations in February and March, in which they reached important agreement on promoting China-Britain relationship and enhancing bilateral cooperation on fighting COVID-19 pandemic.

Liu mentioned the webinar that took place earlier Friday between senior public health experts from both countries. Ma Xiaowei, minister in charge of China's National Health Commission, and Matt Hancock, Britain's secretary of state for health and social care addressed the event, emphasizing that China and Britain should actively implement the consensus between the two leaders, deepen bilateral and international anti-epidemic cooperation and work closely to safeguard global public health.

During the webinar, health officials and experts of the two countries had in-depth discussions on a range of topics including epidemic prevention and control, trend prediction and lockdown easing strategy, among others.

A closer and stronger cooperation between China and Britain, which is mutually complementary and beneficial, is not only the consensus between the leaders of the two countries but also a common aspiration of all sectors from both sides, Liu said.

Liu expressed the hope that China and Britain can work together to continuously increase mutual trust, resist disruptions and deepen cooperation so as to bring more benefits to the peoples of the two countries.

Attaching high importance to the Britain-China relations, Britain is committed to developing a constructive and friendly relationship with China and is ready to work together with China to implement the key consensus reached between the two leaders and further expand cooperation with China in various sectors, Adams said.

The conversation was joined by Menna Rawlings, director-general economic and global issues at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.