Xi’s visit to epicenter Wuhan heralds new phase in fight against epidemic: analysts

Photo: People's Daily

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, on Tuesday for inspecting the epidemic prevention and control work in Central China's Hubei Province and its capital city Wuhan, sending a strong signal to the entire country and the world that China is ascending out of the darkest moment amid the outbreak, and the battle against the epidemic has now entered the next stage, analysts said.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, went straight to Huoshenshan Hospital after arriving in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, for inspection.

Xi learned about the hospital's operations, treatment of patients, protection for medical workers and scientific research there.

He is also scheduled to visit frontline medical workers, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers, community workers, police officers, grass-root government workers and local residents who have been fighting the COVID-19 over the past months.

Photo: Globaltimes.cn

Xi's Wuhan visit at this moment shows the turning point of China's domestic fight against the epidemic has arrived and now the fight is shifting its focus to prevent imported cases of infection and gradually resume economic activities and production, analysts said.

Xi personally commands the people's war against the epidemic. He has been paying constant attention to the epidemic prevention and control work and made oral or written instructions every day.

After about two months of the epidemic control and prevention work, China is gradually coming out of the darkest phase as the nation is resuming social order.

Xi's first visit to Wuhan since the outbreak befell, reflects China's determination of scoring the victory in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

From January 7 to March 2, he convened six meetings of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and one meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, urging authorities at every level to put forth resolute efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

He also held a meeting aimed at comprehensively deepening the reform, one meeting on advancing law-based governance, one teleconference with 170,000 officials, reflecting his personal involvement in the response to the epidemic.

Photo: People's Daily

Such an extensive level of engagement was hailed as "a very rare leadership" amid the outbreak by Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Xi also inspected and guided the epidemic control work and visited scientific research and development institutions in Beijing since the outbreak befell, issuing multiple instructions on epidemic control.

He held 15 telephonic talks with 14 heads of nations, including France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and the US. Besides, he also met with WHO chief Ghebreyesus, and the heads of Cambodia and Mongolia.

Photo: People's Daily

Under Xi's command, China launched a people's war against the epidemic, with Wuhan and Hubei as the main battlefield, setting up lines of defense. Personnel and resources were mobilized across the country, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

People are inspired and encouraged by the president's deep concerns about the epidemic control work in Wuhan.

"His visit also underscores the central government's strong will to restore normality in the whole society, and to achieve 2020 economic and social goals," Yang Zhanqiu, a Wuhan-based virologist, told the Global Times on Tuesday.