On March 23, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Avet Adonts held a video call with the Ambassador of China to Armenia Tian Erlong during which the sides touched upon the situation in Armenia and China concerning the novel coronavirus and exchanged information about the measures undertaken by the Governments of both countries in this regard.

Both sides commended the close collaboration between Armenia and China in the fight against the coronavirus. Deputy Foreign Minister Adonts expressed gratitude to Ambassador Erlong and the Embassy of China in Armenia for providing 1008 free of charge novel coronavirus diagnostic kits to the Ministry of Health of Armenia, which have recently arrived in Armenia.

The interlocutors exchanged views about the prolongation of temporary termination (March 31) of the agreement on lifting visa requirements between the Republic of Armenia and the People’s Republic of China. The sides agreed to keep close contact regarding the issue and coordinate steps taken by both sides.

The Deputy Foreign Minister highly appreciated the constant efforts of the Chinese side in sharing its best practices in the fight and prevention of the spread of the novel coronavirus and emphasized the importance of establishing the online awareness platform for fighting the pandemic by China (COVID-19, https://covid19.alliancebrh.com), as well as the development of a manual on coronavirus prevention and treatment by the First Medical University Hospital in Zhejiang. The information about the manual has been recently transferred to the Ministry of Health of Armenia.

The parties also discussed issues related to the supply of special medical uniforms, masks and adaptive lung ventilation devices. The Deputy Minister discussed further assistance from the Chinese side in this regard. Ambassador Tian noted that China is ready to further assist Armenia by granting medical uniforms and adaptive lung ventilation devices worth 110.000 USD.  

Ambassador Tian emphasized the readiness of the Chinese side to continue close cooperation with Armenia in resolving various issues in fight against the novel coronavirus, stressing the importance of international unity and solidarity in the fight against the pandemic.