On 17 April, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi took a phone call from Foreign Minister Amadou Ba of Senegal, co-chair country of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on the African side.

Wang said that China will always remember the firm support offered by Senegal and other African countries when China was at a critical moment of fighting COVID-19, and expressed solicitude as the virus is now spreading in Africa. The Chinese government and people from all sectors have taken prompt actions to offer support: tranches of medical supplies are being shipped to African countries and the African Union (AU), Chinese provinces and cities have volunteered to provide assistance, 14 video conferences have been held by China's best medical experts and their African counterparts, and nearly 400 training sessions have been conducted by the 46 Chinese medical teams stationed in Africa. At the request of WHO and the AU, China recently sent two medical expert teams to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso to help the two countries and their neighbors in fighting the virus. For the next stage, China is preparing a new batch of urgently needed medical supplies for Africa and will send more expert teams to help countries in need with their response efforts.

Wang underscored the profound goodwill and friendship of the Chinese people toward the African people, and the unbreakable ties between China and Africa which have stood the test of changing international circumstances. When Ebola broke out in Africa a few years ago, Chinese medical teams went into the hard-hit regions when others chose to leave, and worked side by side with their African brothers, putting themselves in harm's way to save patients. In the same spirit, at the difficult moment in China's fight against COVID-19, Senegal and many other African countries demonstrated great trust in China by deciding not to evacuate their students. China, on its part, has honored its commitment to protecting the safety of African nationals in China, especially the students, like treating our own family members.

Wang said that as FOCAC co-chairs, China will work with Senegal to follow through on the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, with particular attention to China-Africa joint response to COVID-19 and other aspects of our health cooperation, to achieve even greater progress in China-Senegal and China-Africa relations.

Ba noted the friendship, sincerity and mutual trust underpinning Senegal-China relations, the frequent interactions between the two presidents and the fruitful cooperation between the two countries within the FOCAC framework. He reaffirmed Senegal's readiness to work with China in implementing the follow-up actions of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, conveyed appreciation for China's assistance to Senegal's epidemic response, and expressed hope and belief that China will continue to extend strong support as African countries intensify efforts and brace themselves for the severe challenges posed by COVID-19.