STOCKHOLM, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 has highlighted the significance of multilateralism, world leaders and scholars have said, calling on the international community to jointly fight the pandemic, which will be one of the main topics of the 15th Group of 20 (G20) summit to be held virtually on Saturday and Sunday.

"We all have to accept that we all have only one good chance to deal with all our present problems -- we have to stay together," Volker Tschapke, honorary president of Germany's Prussian Society, told Xinhua on Tuesday. He expected the coming summit to convey the message again.

China and Europe have lent a hand to each other and shared experience in combating the virus, setting an example for the world, he said.

Jim O'Neill, chairman of the London-based think tank Chatham House, said safeguarding multilateralism amid the coronavirus pandemic is "exceptionally important."

Countries should strengthen and coordinate their efforts to develop treatments and vaccines, said O'Neill, who in the early 2000s coined the acronym BRIC that represents Brazil, Russia, India and China.

"COVID-19 has proven that multilateralism is a most effective tool to addressing global threats. Global challenges need global solutions. Multilateralism matters to the world more than ever before and wide-range partnerships are needed to build for it," said Director-General of UN at Geneva Tatiana Valovaya.

Angel Gurria, secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), said the pandemic has brought an unprecedented crisis and has a huge impact on the public health system and economic and social development.

At the same time, the urgency of climate change still exists. Therefore, in the current complex, fragile and closely connected world, multilateralism is more important than ever, he added.

Josep Borrell, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, underlined that multilateralism is the only effective way to overcome the global health crisis.

The pandemic has reminded us how closely connected people are and how important multilateral cooperation is. There is no other way to win the borderless battle against the virus than to find a global solution, said Borrell.