BEIJING — State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone conversation with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Feb 7, underlining bilateral cooperation in fighting novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP).

Egypt firmly supports China's efforts to fight the epidemic and stands ready to offer help within its capability, Shoukry said, adding that Egypt believes that China will eventually achieve an outright victory over the epidemic.

African countries will always firmly stand by China in the face of hardship, he said.

For his part, Wang said China and African countries are good friends and good brothers who trust and support each other.

China took the lead to help African countries combat the Ebola epidemic in the past, which wrote a new chapter for China-Africa friendship and cooperation, Wang said.

Today, African countries fully understand and support China in fighting against the NCP epidemic and their friendship will certainly be advanced, Wang said.

Wang said that "we firmly believe that under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China as well as with the rich experience obtained in tackling the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak, strong national mobilization capability and global support, we will eventually achieve a victory over the epidemic and that China's development will not be affected."

Through its efforts in fighting the epidemic, China has been not only safeguarding the safety and health of the Chinese people, but also making contribution to the cause of international public health, Wang said.

The World Health Organization has praised China's prevention and control of the disease as setting a new standard for global outbreak response, and it disfavors imposing international travel and trade restrictions, Wang said.

China is willing to keep communication and coordination with Egypt and jointly maintain normal exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, Wang added.