"The current COVID-19 pandemic reminded us of the fact that, like it or not, Asia and the world have become a whole today. All countries in the world should work together to tackle this major crisis in human history," said Takakage Fujita, director general of a Japanese civil group dedicated to upholding and developing the well-known Murayama Statement.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, the political analyst spoke highly of China's efforts to combat COVID-19. He said that under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Chinese people mobilized and responded calmly.

Through hard efforts and great sacrifices, China has effectively suppressed the spread of the novel coronavirus and the situation of epidemic prevention and control continued to improve, he said.

In addition, China not only timely shared its experience and knowledge in fighting against the virus with other countries struggling with the epidemic, but also sent medical teams to the worst-affected countries, Fujita said. These measures are of great significance, he said.

At the recent Group of 20 special summit on COVID-19, Xi called for comprehensive international cooperation to consolidate strong synergy in the fight against COVID-19 and jointly win the battle against such a major infectious disease.

Fujita said he totally agrees. "As Xi has said, the world must unite to overcome the plague. China's vision of a community of a shared future for humanity will play an important role in the global development in the 21st century," he said.

Fujita said he also agrees with Xi's call for supporting the World Health Organization (WHO). Fujita said the WHO played an important role in directing the global fight against COVID-19, and he hopes it will "continue to aim at protecting the health of people around the world, take it as its mission to lead and adjust the global health care system, and continue to exercise its vision and leadership to protect the lives and health of people living together as a community with a shared future for humanity."

Speaking of the prospect of the global economy sliding into recession as a result of the impact of the outbreak, Fujita praised the G20's announcement that it would quickly take strong measures including injecting more than five trillion U.S. dollars into the global economy and uniting efforts to restore world economic growth.

He also suggested that Japan should seek "a more suitable way to survive" on the Eurasian continent in the process of Asian economic integration, such as deepening its relations with China through the Belt and Road Initiative.