File photo: Medical workers wear protective suits and equipment before entering the isolation ward at Wuhan No.1 Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

The Group of 20 (G20) major economies are holding their first video summit on coordinating a global response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is chairing the meeting.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is joining the summit via video conference from Beijing, marking his first major multilateral event since the beginning of the virus outbreak.

The summit comes at a time when the pandemic rages across the world. The meeting aims to advance a coordinated global response to the outbreak and its human and economic implications.

More than 480,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported around the world and 21,000 people have died of the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins University.