LIVERPOOL, Britain, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The deputy mayor of Liverpool, also the city's mayoral lead on business and international relations, has called for greater cooperation between Britain and China in the battle against COVID-19.

Comments by councillor Gary Millar came as Liverpool became the first British city on Friday to introduce mass testing of the population to help drive down cases of the virus in the northern England port city.

Millar was one of the first citizens to be checked at one of the COVID-19 testing stations opened in Liverpool Friday to enable the 450,000 population to be checked.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Millar said, "I just wish we had done this sooner. We can learn a lot on control of this virus from China and other Asian countries where the disease is well under control."

Explaining why he had the test, Millar said, "I have no symptoms, but I'd rather know for certain I am clear out of respect for others. It is only now that people with no symptoms are being offered tests."

"We should have done this earlier, and also introduced testing in airports. If you go overseas to places like China or the Middle East, people are routinely tested and if positive go into quarantine."

On the mass testing program in his city, Miller said, "This is a pilot scheme in Liverpool and people will get the results almost immediately." Millar noted.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and national health officials will be carefully following the progress in Liverpool to determine its success at defeating the virus.

"When you look to China and other countries in Asia, the (cases) numbers are so low. That is because of their systems of testing and tracking," he said.

Britain is the ninth country to reach the milestone of a million cases after the United States, India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina and Colombia.

"China learned a lot from SARS and how to protect people," he said.

SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, spread rapidly on the Chinese mainland in 2003. In response, Beijing built Xiaotangshan Hospital, a temporary medical center, in just a week. China's anti-SARS experience is helpful in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We could learn a lot from China and some of the other countries over there," he said.

China has showed the world that mass testing and tracing is part of the efforts that proved effective to bring the pandemic under controls.

In recent months, smaller-scale clusters of cases have been discovered at different times in Beijing, Xinjiang, and Dalian respectively. Efforts to tackle a resurgence have proven effective, which include quarantines, disinfection, contact tracing, targeted lockdowns and citywide mass testing campaigns.

"From my own knowledge of China, I am sure they would be more than willing to help if we asked. There is so much Britain and China could learn from each other, if only there was some co-operation," Millar said.

"It is all about relationships between countries and sharing best practices as well as sharing data."

Millar said that apart from virus control, Britain and China could also learn from each other about vaccines development, adding that British universities, especially those in Liverpool, already have "very close links" with China.

"I accept across the world there are differences in how we live and breathe in our respective countries, but COVID-19 is a global pandemic affecting every continent. We need to be allies in the fight against the virus and learn from each other," he said.

"We need to put aside political differences and perceptions, and overcome our own ignorance over China, and embark on a healthy dialogue," said the deputy mayor.

"If somebody in our national government picked up the phone and spoke to me, or one of our universities, we could really point them in the right direction, and start some form of co-operation with China," he said.

"The longer it takes to get a grip on this pandemic, the more deaths there will be in Britain and other countries," he added.