China openly shared virus information from start

It makes “no sense at all” to believe that China covered up information about the novel coronavirus outbreak information and that led to the pandemic spreading in other countries, said Guo Weimin, spokesman of the third plenary session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

China has informed the international community of such information in an open, transparent and responsible manner, Guo said at a news conference on Wednesday.

China took the initiative to inform the World Health Organization and relevant countries and regions about the outbreak as early as Jan 3, and released the genome sequences to the international community on Jan 12 soon after it managed to isolate the virus, Guo said.

Since China suspended departures from Wuhan on Jan 23, there have been news conferences to share information about the outbreak every day in the country, which has not only supported China in fighting the pandemic, but also helped the world tackle the contagion, he said.

Those news conferences, held at different government levels and in different cities at an intensive pace, addressed the public’s concerns and won attention and approval from media outlets both at home and abroad, Guo also said.

On the other hand, the country needs to improve its news conference mechanism to meet new challenges, he said, adding that openness and transparency is an important way to answer the public’s doubt, enhance the government’s credibility and help the international community understand China better.