In this May 17, 2020 photo, a man wearing a face mask is pictured next to headless fashion store mannequins in a shopping mall as it reopened after restrictions to halt the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus were lifted in Yangon, Myanmar. (SAI AUNG MAIN / AFP)

The joint fight against COVID-19 by China and Myanmar will bolster the building of a community with a shared future and write a new chapter for the millennia-old "Pauk-Phaw" friendship between them, a senior Myanmar diplomat said.

The epidemic is temporary, but the efforts to build a Myanmar-China community with a shared future will continue.

U Myo Thant Pe, Myanmar's ambassador to China

Myanmar's Ambassador to China U Myo Thant Pe said this in an interview with China Daily ahead of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Myanmar, which fell on Monday.

"The epidemic is temporary, but the efforts to build a Myanmar-China community with a shared future will continue," the ambassador said. "Our joint effort in this battle against the epidemic is another demonstration of the deep-rooted friendship between the two countries."

Since the start of the outbreak, China and Myanmar have supported each other with medical supplies and other material aid. And China has also sent medical teams to Myanmar to help its neighbor combat the virus.

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The envoy also said that despite the epidemic, the two countries were striving to continue their collaboration, including the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor Project and other cooperation outlined in the Belt and Road Initiative.

During a telephone conversation with Myanmar President U Win Myint on May 20, President Xi Jinping called on the two countries to work closely to deliver the outcomes of his state visit to Myanmar in January, and steadily advance bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various areas while ensuring the prevention and control of COVID-19.

The ambassador described Xi's visit to Myanmar as a milestone in bilateral ties, and said "Myanmar-China relations will now steadily grow from a new starting point－the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic ties".

"As close neighbors and partners who have given each other help and support, we will work together to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, to consolidate the traditional bonds of friendship between Myanmar and China, promote comprehensive strategic cooperation and build a Myanmar-China community with a shared future based on mutual benefit, equality and win-win cooperation."

Both countries are trying to find ways to launch a "fast-track" to facilitate normal business and economic exchanges between them while ensuring epidemic control measures are implemented, the envoy said.

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Transparency praised

He also praised China's transparency in sharing epidemic-related information with the rest of the world, and its international cooperation in fighting the virus, and said all countries and people have to come together to fight the pandemic, and to overcome the impact of the disease on the world economy.

All investigations on the source of the COVID-19 outbreak should be done by scientists, biologists and professionals in a scientific manner, he said.

"This is the time for unity and solidarity, and blaming each other will only lead to negative effects in the unprecedented crisis."