WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived at Beijing on Thursday night for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games have brought the world unity, peace, and hope under the shadow of COVID-19, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said during a meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday, while hailing China's great achievements and support in fighting the pandemic.

Tedros arrived in China on Thursday for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. He said he was glad to come to China for this special moment and be part of the pre-Games torch relay. "The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games have brought the world unity, peace, and hope under the shadow of COVID-19, and will help the world getting through the hard times," he noted. 

He congratulated China for the remarkable achievements in curbing the epidemic and recognized China's effort in the world's fight against the disease, especially the 600 million doses of vaccines of aid that China offered to Africa and China's donations to COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX,) a global vaccination program led by the WHO.

Tedros said that the WHO hopes to strengthen global health cooperation with China and believes China will play an important role in achieving the global target of getting 70 percent of the world's population vaccinated. 

Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the People's Republic of China's lawful seat at the WHO, Wang said China has carried out all-round and multi-level cooperation with the WHO and actively supported the organization in dealing with various health crises including Ebola. Wang said he has faith in defeating coronavirus together with the organization as well. 

Wang said China has overcome its own difficulties and launched the largest emergency humanitarian operation since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, providing over 2.1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations.

Wang noted China is willing to further cooperate with the WHO in promoting equitable and affordable access to vaccines in developing countries. 

Global Times