Xinhua Commentary: Solidarity, cooperation: answer to building post-pandemic world

BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Major changes worldwide unseen in a century and the COVID-19 pandemic have sent human society to a crossroad. To combat the pandemic and build a post-COVID world, a choice of whether to ride with or resist the trend of the times should be made.

The answer to the choice is evident. Solidarity in tackling the pandemic and adhering to true multilateralism in line with the historical trend of economic globalization is the way forward, rather than irrational acts of erecting walls, closing off or decoupling.

As shown in the fighting of the pandemic, the common enemy of human beings, holding each other back or shifting blame only caused delays in response and distraction of attention.

A rational response should be active cooperation on research and development of medicines against COVID-19, as well as concerted efforts in making vaccines equally accessible to people across the world as soon as possible.

The same principle applies to saving the world economy from crisis to recovery. While strengthening macro-policy coordination, countries should explore new drivers of economic growth, new modes of social life, and new pathways for people-to-people exchange, in a bid to facilitate cross-border trade and keep industrial and supply chains secure and smooth in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 response.

The pandemic has already disrupted humanity's common cause of global development, causing more outstanding problems like a widening North-South gap, aggravating poverty, instability in developing countries, and even difficulties of living for people in many developed economies.

Confrontation guided by a Cold War mentality, protectionism or unilateralism does not solve any problems. It only invites catastrophic consequences and ultimately hurts one's own interests.

The right way forward for humanity is peaceful development and win-win cooperation. We should follow the trend of history, work for a stable international order, advocate common values of humanity, and build a community with a shared future for mankind.