BEIJING — State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on April 3 held a telephone conversation with his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, and called for closer global cooperation to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic.

"China sympathizes with Germany's current difficulties, firmly stands with the German people, and supports Germany in its fight against the epidemic until we jointly and completely overcome it," he said.

The German government and people had extended their support to China at a crucial time when China was fighting the COVID-19 epidemic, Wang said.

Wang said although China must concentrate on preventing the epidemic from rebounding, it would nonetheless provide help to Germany to the best of its ability.

He expressed his belief that the German people can unite together to fight the epidemic, and that Germany is capable of coping with the challenges facing the country.

He added China is willing to further coordinate with Germany in the fight against COVID-19 and jointly provide help to other countries in need.

China and Germany, two major economies and manufacturing powers, should prevent the epidemic from triggering a new round of trade protectionism, jointly safeguard an open multilateral trading system and ensure the stability and security of the global industrial chain and supply chain, Wang said.

China, he added, is also willing to help German enterprises in China solve the difficulties encountered in resuming work and production.

Noting there are many Chinese expatriates and students in Germany, who serve as the cordial link between the two countries, Wang expressed his hope and belief that Germany would effectively protect their health and safety.

Wang pointed out the voices in some countries groundlessly blaming China for delaying reporting the outbreak, something he called completely inconsistent with the facts.

China wasted no time in reporting the outbreak to the World Health Organization, sharing the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus with other countries, carrying out international cooperation to prevent the spread of and control the disease, and extending help to other countries with their own COVID-19 outbreaks, Wang said, adding these most fundamental facts have garnered praise from the international community.

Wang said qualified Chinese enterprises are currently operating at full capacity to meet the needs of various countries for medical materials, stressing how China has always attached great importance to the quality of its exports and issued strict regulatory measures.

He said all sides should adopt a realistic attitude and resolve individual differences in the process of product purchase through equal consultation, adding any stigmatization of the products is not conducive to anti-epidemic cooperation.

Maas, for his part, said he totally agrees with Wang's remarks, noting that under the current severe epidemic situation, it is unwise to blame others and inappropriate to hype up the so-called quality issue of products.

It is an indisputable fact that China has adopted effective measures to successfully contain the epidemic, he added.

Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading across Europe and the world, Maas said the international community needs to strengthen cooperation to face the pandemic together.

Maas said Germany is willing to deepen cooperation with China to maintain the stability of the international supply chain, including the supply of medicines, adding that his country also stands ready to maintain communication with China on important exchanges between Europe and China in the next stage, so as to jointly promote bilateral cooperation to achieve more results.

Wang expressed his belief that the China-Germany relationship would grow further as the two work together to combat the disease.