WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (R) speaks at a daily briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 5, 2020. Photo:Xinhua

China decided to donate another 30 million U.S. dollars to the World Health Organization (WHO) in support of global efforts to fight COVID-19 and the construction of public health systems in developing countries, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here Thursday.

Spokesperson Geng Shuang told a news briefing that the WHO, led by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had actively fulfilled its duties with objective, science-based and fair position and played an important role in assisting countries in responding to the outbreak and boosting international cooperation on COVID-19.

Geng said to support the WHO is to defend the principles of multilateralism and safeguard the status and authority of the United Nations at a crucial time of the battle against the pandemic, adding that the virus is the common enemy of humankind, and the international community can only defeat it through unity and cooperation.

In March, China donated 20 million dollars to the WHO to support the global fight against COVID-19.

The spokesperson said China's donations to the WHO reflected the support and trust of the Chinese government and people in the organization, and China also made its own contributions to global public health and the fight against the pandemic.

"China will continue to stand in solidarity and render mutual assistance with other countries to jointly overcome the pandemic, safeguard regional and global public health and build a community with a shared future for mankind," he said.