On the evening of 3 February, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone call with Sudanese Foreign Minister Asma Mohamed Abdalla.

Foreign Minister Abdalla extended sincere sympathy on behalf of the Sudanese government and people to the Chinese government and people over the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, and expressed confidence that the Chinese government has full capacity to win this battle against the epidemic and that China will soon overcome the crisis. The Sudan-China relationship is unique and friendly, and Sudan will have more practical cooperation with China to take the bilateral ties to a new height.

Wang Yi said that when Africa was hit by the Ebola epidemic, China was the first to provide emergency assistance supplies via charter flights, and the first to send medical teams to help fight the epidemic. That was an important chapter in China-Africa friendship. He is confident that the people of all African countries will stand firmly with the Chinese people in the fight against this outbreak. China cherishes its traditional friendship with Sudan, and the two sides need to make full use of the two important platforms of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative to explore new areas and unlock new potential of cooperation.

Wang stressed that China has the firm and strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the high ability to mobilize and rich experience in handling public health incidents. China is mobilizing the whole nation to effectively control and mitigate the epidemic, and visible progress has been made. Since 1 February, the number of cases cured has notably exceeded that of fatalities, which shows that the epidemic is controllable and curable. China has full confidence in winning this battle against the outbreak as soon as possible. We are not only responsible to the health of the Chinese people, but also contributing to global public health. China attaches great importance to the life and health of the Sudanese nationals and people of other countries in China, and will continue to take effective measures to address their legitimate concerns in a timely manner.