Azerbaijan ready to help China fight virus outbreak in any way possible

Azerbaijan is willing and is ready to provide further help to China to fight the coronavirus outbreak, and the country welcomes Chinese tourists to visit and enjoy the beautiful Caspian Sea, a senior official said.

Hikmat Hajiyev, assistant to the Azerbaijan president and the head of the department of foreign policy affairs in the presidential administration, said the Azerbaijan government is impressed by the Chinese government's efforts to fight the virus and the whole country is praying that China will defeat the virus.

According to the Azeri foreign ministry, the first official medical supplies and humanitarian aid supplies from the South Caucasus country arrived in Sichuan province on Sunday.

Some 100,000 bonnets, 40,000 masks, 100,000 pairs of sterile gloves, 100,000 milliliters of medical alcohol, 100,000 pairs of shoe covers, 5 kilograms of chloramine powder and 1,850 chloramine pills were sent to Mianyang city.

These supplies were collected by Sumgait, the second largest city in Azerbaijan, which established ties with many Chinese cities in September last year.

The supplies are not only humanitarian aid to China from Azerbaijan, but a demonstration of the friendship between the governments and peoples of the two countries, he said.

"We hope this aid will help the city of Mianyang fight the spread of the infection and boost the treatment of those infected," he said.

Hajiyev also said that the Azeri President Ilham Aliyev had sent a message early last week to President Xi Jinping. In the letter, Aliyev said "right now is a difficult time for our Chinese partner", adding that Azerbaijan was ready to provide any necessary goods to China and help to the Chinese to defeat the virus.

The close relations between the two countries are just like the good personal relations between the two countries' leaders. President Xi and President Aliyev called each other 'old friend' when they met in Beijing last year.

Hajiyev also said that the Azeri government thinks highly of the reaction and measures taken by the Chinese central and local governments after the outbreak, and he added that he was glad to see China maintaining close cooperation with the international community with regard to research and developing a vaccine to fight the coronavirus.

"We believe China is a very strong nation, and there is no doubt that very soon it will overcome this disaster," said Arkam Zeynalli, Azerbaijan's ambassador to China.

"It is a difficult time for the people who are living in Wuhan, in Hubei province and we appreciate the efforts of the Chinese government and the local government in Wuhan," Zeynalli said.