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BEIJING, Feb. 29-- Chinese President Xi Jinping talked over phone with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Friday night to compare notes on the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic and how to further promote bilateral ties. Xi noted that after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, Raul Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, and Diaz-Canel immediately extended their sympathies to him, and the Cuban president also paid a special visit to the Chinese embassy in Cuba to express support for China. That, said the Chinese president, has fully demonstrated the profound traditional friendship between China and Cuba. In line with the professional guidelines proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), Cuba has maintained normal exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, which means respect and support of China's prevention and control work, Xi said. China, he added, highly appreciates the understanding and support the Cuban side and the Cuban president himself have shown for China's anti-epidemic efforts. Xi stressed that since the outbreak of the epidemic, he has been personally leading the response, and the country, with its people united as one, has taken the most comprehensive, rigorous and thorough prevention and control measures. China has put forward the principle of early detection, early reporting, early isolation and early treatment for prevention and control, and the principle of pooling together patients, experts and resources for concentrated treatment for treatment efforts, he said. | 
