HARARE -- China is playing a significant role in helping Zimbabwe fight COVID-19, the African country's information minister told Xinhua.

"COVID-19 has wreaked havoc among our people, especially the economy," said Monica Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe's minister of information, publicity and broadcasting services, adding that lockdowns during the pandemic have caused a number of problems to her country, which has registered 7,298 cases as of Monday.

However, "with the help of our best friends like China and many others, we have managed to contain this virus," she said.

Since the country's first case of COVID-19 was recorded in March, the Chinese government and Chinese enterprises in Zimbabwe have made a notable contribution to Zimbabwe's fight against the novel coronavirus, the minister noted.

"We have seen the People's Republic of China through the embassy here donating almost on a weekly basis," she said.

Besides medical supplies, "we have also seen a lot of support in terms of what we require to contain the disease," she said. "I am talking about all kinds of help," referring to China's sharing of its anti-epidemic experience with local health authorities.

In May, a 12-member medical team from China was dispatched to Zimbabwe to help the African country fight COVID-19. During their stay there, Chinese medical experts from the team toured four of the country's 10 provinces to share their experience with local medical staff, donated medical supplies to the hospitals they visited, and presented a report with their recommendations on fighting COVID-19 to the Zimbabwean government.

In a letter to the medical team, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa expressed gratitude, lauding its "unwavering support by sharing the expertise garnered from China's victorious battle against the COVID-19 pandemic."