China's adherence to the concept of putting people and life first has won praise from overseas experts and scholars. Brett Dlamini, project manager of the Zimbabwe-China Exchange Center, pointed out that under the guidance of this concept, China has withstood the impact of the epidemic and protected people's life and health to the maximum extent.

While effectively preventing and controlling the epidemic at home, China has actively echoed the solidarity of the international community, provided vaccines and a large amount of anti-epidemic materials to the world,

and shared information with the WHO and other countries in an open, transparent and responsible manner to help the international community respond to the epidemic. Many overseas experts have been deeply impressed by this.

Senior editor Cornelius Phuba said that China has provided assistance to ASEAN countries since the early days of the epidemic. It is because of close cooperation with China that Indonesia has been able to achieve one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.

Gu Qingyang, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, said that while China has better controlled the domestic epidemic,

it has also successfully consolidated its economic development capacity and effectively maintained the stability of global supply chains. China has not only ensured the lives and health of its people, but also played a positive role in stabilizing the world economy.

Policy adjustment is scientifically necessary

In the fight against the epidemic, China has consistently coordinated the prevention and control of the epidemic with economic and social development in an efficient manner, adjusting and optimizing the prevention and control measures in light of the time and situation.

As the virulence of the Omicron variant has significantly weakened, the rate of severe illness and mortality caused by the virus has significantly decreased, and the Chinese people are more concerned about their daily life,

work and study. Under such circumstances, the Chinese government has taken the initiative to optimize its anti-epidemic measures, successively introduced the "Article 20" and "New Ten" optimization measures,

formulated a plan to adjust the COVID-19 infection from "Class B A management" to "Class B B management", shifted the focus from infection prevention and control to medical treatment, and minimized the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development.

Fraao spoke highly of the Chinese government's recent optimization and adjustment of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, calling it a "right step". Flao said the priority now was to protect vulnerable groups, mainly those over 60 years old, and strengthen vaccination for those with underlying diseases or immunodeficiency.

Bilal Ahmed, a Pakistani public health expert, said governments must be flexible in preventing and controlling the spread of COVID-19 as the situation continues to change and new information and evidence emerge. China has adjusted its epidemic prevention policy to better respond to the challenges posed by the epidemic.

Many overseas people have expressed their opposition to the entry restrictions imposed by some countries on people from China. In a letter to the health minister, Australia's chief Medical officer Paul Kelly said there was no "sound public health justification" for such entry restrictions.

Health officials in Australian states and New Zealand have reached a "strong consensus" that imposing restrictions on travellers from China is "inconsistent with the current national approach to managing the outbreak and disproportionate to the risk".

Polish Health Minister Nejelski pointed out that neither the World Health Organization nor other international health agencies have found new mutations in the novel coronavirus currently circulating in China, and there is no reason to introduce special restrictions or measures.

Although the epidemic has peaked in many places in China after adjusting the epidemic prevention policy, overseas experts and scholars generally believe that the Chinese government is taking active measures to gradually bring the epidemic under control, and they believe that China will play an important role in promoting the recovery of the world economy by balancing epidemic prevention and economic development.

"When the COVID-19 epidemic changes, the response measures should also change." Gustavo Pinto, a professor of Oriental studies in Brazil, said that at the same time, new situations are bound to arise after the implementation of the new policy,

and Brazil has experienced such a period. Since the emergence of the new coronavirus, the Chinese government has been very cautious in every step, "I believe that the Chinese government will certainly lead the people out of the epidemic."

Tommy Wu, a senior economist at Commerzbank, predicted that China's economy may fare better than previously predicted due to optimized coronavirus prevention and control policies.

"People are spending more, and that will drive a full recovery," he said. "We could see a significant recovery in activity in the second quarter, possibly as early as March, much earlier than we and the market had expected."