Our two countries must overlook differences to defeat coronavirus, say American business leaders in China

American Chamber of Commerce in China says two superpowers should give up ‘unbridled competition’ and be better world leaders on pandemic

Chinese medical professor says a lack of information exchange between American and Chinese scientists would have concerning consequences

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A report by the Centre for China and Globalisation urges renewed focus on anti-pandemic cooperation between China and the US and for strengthened collaboration to develop and produce a Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: AP

Published: 9:15pm, 6 Jul 2020Updated: 10:43pm, 6 Jul 2020

The United States and China should overcome their political differences to form a “peaceful and harmonious bilateral relationship” to address the global pandemic and support economic recovery, US business leaders in China said on Monday.

Alan Beebe, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said that unfortunately, national interests and politics continued to intervene in the public health crisis.

“Covid-19 does not recognise politics or borders. This is a matter of science,” Beebe said.

Ker Gibbs, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, said the chamber’s coordination with subnational level governments both in China and the US had been “excellent”, but “we’re disappointed at the national level. Both governments don’t seem to appreciate the global nature of the threat” and instead were assigning blame.

American business leaders in China have called for greater cooperation between Chinese and US non-government organisations to beat Covid-19 and restore economic health. Photo: Bloomberg

Beebe and Gibbs made the comments on Monday at a webinar organised by the Centre for China and Globalisation (CCG). During the online forum the Beijing-based think tank released a report on China-US non-government cooperation to combat the Covid-19. The report said strained relations between China and the United States had impaired non-governmental efforts to jointly combat the virus.

Our two countries must overlook differences to defeat coronavirus, say American business leaders in China

American Chamber of Commerce in China says two superpowers should give up ‘unbridled competition’ and be better world leaders on pandemic Chinese medical professor says a lack of information exchange between American and Chinese scientists would have concerning consequences

American Chamber of Commerce in China says two superpowers should give up ‘unbridled competition’ and be better world leaders on pandemic

Chinese medical professor says a lack of information exchange between American and Chinese scientists would have concerning consequences