State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok on the phone on 18 March.

Wang expressed concern over the simultaneous outbreak of COVID-19 in multiple countries and cities and the latest developments in Europe. He conveyed China's empathy and solidarity with the people of the Netherlands at this challenging time. And acting in the belief that mankind is in a community with a shared future, China is making its best effort to help other countries in need despite its own shortage of epidemic control supplies, and has readily shared experience on epidemic control.

He expressed China's readiness to assist the Netherlands in procurement activities in China and to facilitate customs clearance and transportation. China is also ready to engage in telemedicine cooperation and encourage more exchanges between medical experts. China is confident that under the leadership of Prime Minister Rutte and equipped with a highly sophisticated medical system, the people of the Netherlands will stand together and defeat the outbreak at an early date.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of its nationals abroad, and has urged those in the Netherlands to follow the professional advice of the local health authorities regarding personal precautions and collaborate in local disease prevention and control. China hopes that the government of the Netherlands will also take seriously and protect the health, safety and legitimate rights of Chinese nationals in their country and ensure their access to medical service.

As virus knows no borders, the disease is a common enemy of mankind and requires a global response. From the very beginning, China has acted in an open, transparent and responsible way in sharing epidemic-related information with the rest of the world, buying precious time for prevention and control efforts in other countries. But lately we see unhelpful attempts to label the virus, which run counter to the professional recommendations of WHO and the global expectations and efforts to combat the outbreak together. Such attempts must be rejected.

Blok commended China's success in containing the outbreak through strong and effective measures. He thanked China for the expression of solidarity and the facilitation in procurement of medical supplies, and spoke positively of China's offer to advance cooperation between the health authorities on both sides. His country values the information and experience shared by China and will study and draw on these experiences. Regarding the health and safety of Chinese nationals in the Netherlands, they will receive the same medical assistance as the local people do.

He also noted that it is wrong for a few politicians to blame China and the Chinese people. The Netherlands appreciates China's all-out, effective control measures, its timely sharing of information and assistance provided to other parts of the world. His country looks forward to having more cooperation with China.