Timeline of China Releasing Information on COVID-19 and Advancing International Cooperation

Bruce Aylward, head of the WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19’s foreign expert panel, holds up a chart showing the results of China's epidemic control efforts at a news conference in Beijing on Monday. [Wang Zhuangfei/CHINA DAILY]

Feb 21

-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on the prevention and control of the COVID-19 and the coordination between the epidemic control and economic and social development.

The meeting called for deepening opening up and international cooperation, enhancing communication and coordination with China's economic and trade partners, and giving priority to helping the leading enterprises that have a significant influence in the global supply chain to resume production and supply to maintain the stability of the global supply chain.

Efforts will be made to make good use of export credit insurance and encourage key export enterprises to resume operation as soon as possible, according to the meeting.

The meeting also highlighted active international cooperation in epidemic prevention and control from the perspective of building a community with a shared future for humanity.

-- The NHC released the fifth version of guidelines on the prevention and control of the COVID-19.

-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing announcing the daily number of newly cured and discharged COVID-19 patients on Feb. 20 in Wuhan outnumbered that of new confirmed cases for the first time, and the daily number of newly cured and discharged COVID-19 patients nationwide surpassed 2,000 for the first time.

Feb 22

-- The China-WHO joint expert team arrived in Hubei Province for a two-day field investigation on the COVID-19 outbreak.

The experts visited Tongji Hospital, the Wuhan Sports Center that was converted into a temporary hospital, and the provincial CDC to learn about epidemic prevention and control as well as medical treatment. They also talked with officials and experts in the province.

Feb 23

-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed unremitting efforts on the prevention and control of the COVID-19 and coordination in advancing economic and social development.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks when delivering an important speech at a meeting in Beijing to advance the work on coordinating the prevention and control of the COVID-19 and economic and social development.

The epidemic situation remains grim and complex and it is now a most crucial moment to curb the spread, Xi noted, asking Party committees and governments at all levels to continue to make unremitting efforts in various prevention and control work and resume work and production in an orderly manner.

Efforts should be made to turn pressure into impetus, turn crises into opportunities, restore the work and life order step by step, Xi said, adding measures should be consolidated to stabilize the employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign capital, domestic investment, and expectations, and intensify policy adjustments to fully unleash the huge potential and strong momentum of China's development and strive to achieve the goals and tasks for economic and social development this year, Xi said.

Xi's speech on the meeting was published that day.

Feb 24

-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Li Keqiang presided over a meeting of the leading group of the CPC Central Committee on response to the COVID-19 outbreak, helping Wuhan City to further enhance epidemic prevention and treatment and making arrangements on region- and category-based differentiated prevention and control strategies.

-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing announcing China's daily number of new COVID-19 infections had remained below 1,000 for the five consecutive days.

The number of existing confirmed cases had dropped for nearly a week, while the daily number of newly cured and discharged COVID-19 patients was no less than that of new confirmed infections in all provincial-level regions.

-- An official with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs talked over phone respectively with ambassadors of Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica to China, briefing foreign missions on China's epidemic prevention and control work.

-- The China-WHO joint expert team held a press conference in Beijing, during which team members said China's unprecedented public health responses to the COVID-19 outbreak have yielded notable results in slowing the spread of the epidemic and blocking human-to-human transmission of the virus, preventing or at least delaying hundreds of thousands of cases.

-- The China CDC published a paper on The Journal of the American Medical Association, titled "Characteristics of and Important Lessons from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China", to describe and analyze the epidemiological characteristics of the 72,314 cases of infection reported through Feb 11 on the Chinese mainland.

-- The Lancet published an article coauthored by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan. The article said Chinese doctors quickly identified the novel coronavirus during the flu season and shared genome sequencing information of the virus with international counterparts through the global scientific research network, which laid the foundation for follow-up scientific research. China's unremitting efforts in preventing and controlling the COVID-19 not only wins precious time for other countries, but also "paves the way" for the international scientific community to jointly deal with the epidemic.

Feb 25

-- Chinese President Xi Jinping talked over phone with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at request, noting that the Chinese government has always acted with an open, transparent and responsible attitude, timely shared information, actively addressed the concerns of various parties, and boosted cooperation with the international community.

Xi said China will continue to take effective measures to safeguard the life and health of citizens of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and all other foreign nationals in the country, and stands ready to work with the UAE to maintain close communication on the latest development of the COVID-19 and share experience in epidemic prevention and control.

-- Chinese President Xi Jinping talked over phone with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at request, noting that African countries and people's various support for China's battle against the COVID-19 outbreak has vividly illustrated the brotherly friendship of sharing weal and woe and helping each other between China and Africa.

Xi said African countries are also facing many challenges in epidemic prevention and control, and China is willing to provide them with more medical supplies that are urgently needed, including test kits.

China also stands ready to accelerate the implementation of the health care initiative of the eight major initiatives unveiled during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, promote the construction of the Africa CDC, and strengthen China-Africa cooperation in public health and disease prevention and control, Xi said.

-- China's NHC shared updated technical guidelines on COVID-19 response with a number of countries and regional organizations.

-- When meeting with Laurent Bili, the French ambassador to China, an official of the Chinese foreign ministry introduced the latest situation of China's notable achievements in fighting COVID-19, stressing that under the strong leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese people are united and have full confidence, capacity and certainty to win the battle against the epidemic.

-- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said at a press briefing that China is willing to share information and experience with Japan and the Republic of Korea in fighting COVID-19 outbreak and offer support and assistance to them according to their needs.

Feb 26

-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The meeting was briefed by the leading group of the CPC Central Committee on the prevention and control work of COVID-19 epidemic, analyzed the current situation and made arrangements for prevention and control measures in the near future.

-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing on the COVID-19 outbreak in prisons.

An official from the ministry of justice told the press that as of Feb. 25, five prisons in Hubei, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces had reported 555 confirmed COVID-19 cases and another 19 suspected cases, four severe confirmed cases, adding that no inmates have thus far died of the virus.

-- Experts from the China CDC participated in the WHO's informal expert consultation teleconference on COVID-19.

-- At a regular press conference, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson briefed reporters on COVID-19 infection among foreigners in China.

Feb 27

-- Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga in Beijing, stressing that by upholding the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity, China is making every effort not only to protect the lives and health of its own people but also to contribute to global public health security.

With an open, transparent and responsible attitude, the Chinese government has actively stepped up international cooperation to fight the outbreak, and China's efforts have been highly affirmed and recognized by the WHO and the international community, Xi said, adding China will continue to work with Mongolia and other countries to fight the epidemic and safeguard regional and global public health security.

-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Li Keqiang presided over a meeting of the leading group of the CPC Central Committee on the prevention and control work of the COVID-19 epidemic, making further arrangements to reduce mortality and ensure the sufficient supply of daily necessities, demanding more detailed prevention and control measures for vulnerable groups and urging strengthened international cooperation.

-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing, saying that upon the WHO's notice, COVID-19 cases had been reported in some other countries, and the epidemic is spreading quite quickly in a few countries. China would attach equal importance to joint control measures to effectively prevent imported and exported cases, and strengthen cooperation with relevant international organizations and countries to jointly contain the epidemic.

-- The second China-EU special teleconference on COVID-19 was held for health experts from both sides to have in-depth exchanges on epidemic prevention and control measures, diagnosis and screening, and treatment guidelines.

Feb 28

-- Chinese President Xi Jinping talked over phone with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at request, stressing that by upholding the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind and with an attitude of openness, transparency and responsibility, China has timely shared information with the WHO and the international community, actively responded to the concerns of various sides, and strengthened international cooperation in the anti-epidemic fight to prevent it from spreading around the world.

The WHO and the international community have spoken highly of China's prevention and control work, Xi said, adding that China is willing to continue exchanges and cooperation with Cuba in the fields of medicine and epidemic prevention and control.

-- Chinese President Xi Jinping talked over phone with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera at request, noting that the Chinese nation has experienced many ordeals in its history, but has never been overwhelmed.

Xi said the impact of the epidemic on China's economy is temporary and generally manageable, and the fundamentals of China's long-term sound economic growth remain unchanged.

While making unrelenting, solid and meticulous efforts in epidemic prevention and control, China will roll out a series of policies and measures to gradually restore orderly production and life and ensure realization of this year's economic and social development goals, Xi said.

-- The State Council Information Office held a press conference in Hubei Province on the progress of the epidemic prevention, control work and medical treatment in Hubei under the direction by the guidance team sent by the CPC Central Committee to the province.

-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing about the prevention, control work and treatment of COVID-19.

As revealed by the NHC at the press conference, the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hubei outside Wuhan and that outside Hubei have both dropped to single-digit figures for the first time on Feb. 27. Efforts should not be slackened in prevention and control in communities, medical treatment and other aspects to prevent the epidemic from rebounding.

-- China's NHC participated in the video conference of the Greater Mekong Sub-region's Working Group on Health Cooperation to discuss the challenges and technical needs of epidemic prevention and control.

-- Research teams led by academicians Zhong Nanshan and Li Lanjuan, and researchers from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, the Central Hospital of Wuhan, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and other institutions jointly published a paper on the New England Journal of Medicine, titled "Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China", analyzing the data of 1,099 COVID-19 patients' treatment.

-- Research teams from Peking Union Medical College and the China CDC published a paper titled "The Pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 in hACE2 Transgenic Mice," which develops an animal model for COVID-19 and helps promote the development of vaccines and drugs.

Feb 29

-- Voluntary medical experts from the Red Cross Society of China arrived in Iran.

-- The WHO-China Joint Mission published a report about its field study trip on COVID-19 in China. According to the report, in the face of a previously unknown virus, China has rolled out perhaps the most ambitious, agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history. As striking, has been the uncompromising rigor of strategy application that proved to be a hallmark in every setting and context where it was examined. Achieving China's exceptional coverage with and adherence to these containment measures has only been possible due to the deep commitment of the Chinese people to collective action in the face of this common threat. At a community level this is reflected in the remarkable solidarity of provinces and cities in support of the most vulnerable populations and communities.

-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing about the treatment of COVID-19 and the recovery of patients.