On the evening of 31 August, President Xi Jinping spoke with King Mohammed VI of Morocco on the phone.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, President Xi Jinping extended sincere sympathies and firm support to the government and people of Morocco over the fight against COVID-19.

President Xi noted that COVID-19 is a major test for the whole world. He recalled the solidarity and partnership between China and Morocco against the virus, and the many letters exchanged with the King. At the early stage in China's battle against COVID-19, Morocco offered valuable support and solidarity to China and took good care of Chinese nationals stranded in the country. By the same token, China raced to provide anti-epidemic supplies to Morocco as it took the hit.

As COVID-19 is still raging across the world, vaccines are vital for humanity's ultimate victory against the virus. President Xi reaffirmed that once developed and deployed in China, COVID-19 vaccines will be made a global public good, and the developing countries, especially African countries, will be among the first to benefit, a commitment he made on quite a number of occasions. China is ready to work with Morocco on vaccine development and production. The two sides need to work with all other countries to uphold multilateralism, support the WHO in playing a leading role, and jointly protect the health and safety of all peoples.

President Xi underscored the profound tradition of friendship between China and Morocco. The two countries enjoy mutual understanding and trust, and always firmly support each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns. China encourages capable Chinese companies to invest in and do business in Morocco. It will work with Morocco to steadily advance bilateral cooperation under such frameworks as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, draw a post-COVID-19 blueprint for people-to-people exchanges, and pursue new progress in the China-Morocco strategic partnership.

King Mohammed VI fondly recalled his visit to China in 2016, when he jointly announced the establishment of the Morocco-China strategic partnership with President Xi. Morocco is pleased to have a strategic partner like China. Morocco's sound development in recent years has benefited from strategic cooperation with China. Morocco sees cooperation with China as a first-order priority, and hopes to deepen cooperation in such areas as economy, trade and technology to reinvigorate the bilateral relations. Morocco firmly supports China's justified position on defending its sovereignty, security and other core interests. Morocco appreciates China's valuable support in battling COVID-19, and hopes to strengthen cooperation with China on vaccine development, procurement and production.