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The Chinese Foreign Minister has called on all countries to make the right choices to improve global governance and international order in the post-COVID-19 era.
Wang Yi made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the Lanting Forum in Beijing.
He says China will continue to work with the international community to fight the pandemic.
"China will vigorously carry out international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19, and work with other countries to bring the pandemic under control and ultimately defeat the virus as soon as possible. We will provide support for more countries and regions in fighting against the virus, and deliver the promise of making Chinese vaccines a global public good."
Wang Yi says multilateralism remains the cornerstone of the current international order.
Johns Hopkins University says global COVID-19 deaths have passed one million.
The United States remains the hardest-hit nation by the pandemic, with over 205 thousand fatalities reported so far.
The Foreign Ministry says China is deeply integrated with the world.
Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks in response to FTSE Russell's announcement that Chinese bonds will be included in the World Government Bond Index starting from October of next year.
He says this is the result of China's continuous reforms and opening-up.
"China has never stopped its efforts to deepen reform and opening-up. This policy has remained unchanged and will never change. Faced with major challenges including COVID-19 and global economic recession, we will continue to roll out new and effective measures for further reform and opening up."
Before FTSE Russell, Chinese bonds had already been included in the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index and J.P. Morgan's Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets.
China's bond market was worth about 112 trillion yuan, or about 16.5 trillion U.S. dollars, as of August this year, of which 2.8 trillion yuan was held by international investors.
Chinese authorities say all parties to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership are pushing forward with a legal document review so the agreement can be signed this year.
Ministry of Commerce official Li Chenggang says the early signing of the agreement is of great significance to regional economic recovery and global economic stability.
"China will always support the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the RCEP and will complete the remaining technical preparations in cooperation with others so that the agreement will be signed as soon as possible."
Initiated by ASEAN in 2012, the RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement between the 10 ASEAN member states and their six free trade partners, including China, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
The World Health Organization says millions of affordable, rapid diagnostic tests for coronavirus will be made available to low and middle-income countries.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the tests can accurately diagnose coronavirus within minutes and are easy to use.
"I'm pleased to announce that thanks to an agreement between WHO and partners here today, and others, a substantial proportion of these rapid tests — 120 million — will be made available to low and middle income countries. These tests provide reliable results in approximately 15 to 30 minutes, rather than hours or days, at a lower price, with less sophisticated equipment."
Manufacturers Abbott and SD Biosensor agreed with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to make 120 million of the tests.
The tests will be rolled out globally including to 133 lower and middle income countries at five US dollars per unit, starting from next month.
