China reiterates commitment to share COVID data with WHO, world

China has held multiple technical briefings with the World Health Organization since the recent optimization of its COVID-19 control policy and will continue to join hands with the international community to fight against the disease, China's Health Minister Ma Xiaowei said on Saturday.

He made the comment during a telephone call with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during which the two exchanged views on the virus control, according to a statement released by the commission on its website.

Ma said China has been sharing information with the WHO and other countries since the early phase of its epidemic.

China was the first to identify the pathogen causing the disease and shared the genome sequence with the world. It also set up a technical communication mechanism with the WHO.

Tedros said he highly appreciated the Chinese government's efforts in handling the epidemic and thanked the country for conducting long-time exchanges and sharing epidemic information with the WHO.

The two have agreed to strengthen mutual technical communication and join efforts to safeguard the security of global health.