Zhao Lijian

On Thursday, the one year anniversary of Wuhan ending its 76-day lockdown, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that what Wuhan and Hubei Province had experienced was a reflection of what China had done to fight the virus. Wuhan's restart and recovery also added strength and confidence to the world's fight against COVID-19. 

Heroic Wuhan and Hubei residents prioritized the big family of China over their small families, made great sacrifices for the country to defeat the virus, and made important contributions to the world's battle against the pandemic, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at Thursday's routine press conference.

Zhao hailed the people of Wuhan, who demonstrated Chinese strength and Chinese spirit with their actions and manifested the idea and sentiment of "family-country" by standing together and helping each other. 

"Wuhan has been reborn from ashes. Its economy has recovered and its vitality returned. Its economic volume returned to the top 10 ranking of all Chinese cities and keywords including 'lifting of lockdown,' 'production resumption,' 'health code' and 'vaccine' marked the past year of recovery," Zhao said, noting what Wuhan and Hubei's experience was a microcosm of what China had experienced in the battle.

During the battle, the Foreign Ministry coordinated international donations to the province and chartered flight services, and fought alongside the Hubei and Wuhan people. The ministry will also help post-epidemic Hubei develop, Zhao said.

The Foreign Ministry and Hubei Province will jointly hold a promotional event on Monday to show the reborn Hubei to the world and build a bridge between the province and foreign cooperation partners. Zhao noted that this is the first time the ministry will promote a province twice, and is also the first post-epidemic promotion.

The first promotion for Hubei was held in July 2018. The Foreign Ministry has the tradition of holding such promotions for Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to introduce the place to the world and help match cooperation resources. 

"At the one year anniversary of Wuhan's restart, let's send our best wishes to Wuhan and Hubei. We also welcome everyone to pay a visit to Wuhan, try reganmian noodles and climb the Yellow Crane Tower," Zhao said. 

Reganmian noodles, or hot dry noodles, is a Wuhan specialty popular for breakfast. The Yellow Crane Tower is a Wuhan landmark that was first built 1,800 years ago.