Premier praises China's COVID-19 strategy

China has achieved a major and decisive victory over COVID-19, and its disease control strategy is absolutely correct, Premier Li Qiang said on Monday.

He said during a news conference that China put people and their lives first during as it battled the disease over the past three years.

The country has formulated targeted, scientific virus control measures and made timely adjustments in light of changing epidemic conditions.

During the early stages of the epidemic, when the virus was more deadly, China adopted resolute and rigorous control measures, which protected people's lives and bought valuable time for the development of vaccines and drugs, and launched mass vaccination campaigns.

Once the virus's pathogenicity diminished and the nation's virus control capacity improved, China optimized its disease containment strategies and downgraded its management of the disease from Class A to B.

"China is a country with a large population and unbalanced development. It took less than two months for it to achieve a smooth transition in its response to the disease and to restore normal socioeconomic order. It is indeed a remarkable achievement," Li said.

"China's COVID-19 strategy is completely right, and its response is highly effective," he added.

Li said that China will continue to track and study the evolving pandemic situation, and has made contingency plans for different scenarios. It has also strengthened medical and healthcare systems and will accelerate the creation of new drugs and vaccines.

The nation will continue to engage in communication and cooperation with the international community to protect the health and well-being of humanity, he added.