Beijing: China on Thursday announced that it is ready to enhance its cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) to advance the global efforts to trace the origin of the coronavirus, as a team of experts of the UN health agency prepares to visit Wuhan, central Chinese city, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

Wang made the remarks at a press briefing on Friday while responding to an inquiry about a WHO official reportedly saying that a WHO-led international investigation team would visit China in early January, reports Xinhua news agency. Wang said that the origin-tracing of the virus is an evolving process that may involve many countries and places.

"We have recently read many reports on the virus breaking out in multiple places worldwide last year. "It proves again that tracing the origin of the novel coronavirus is a scientific task that must be taken very seriously. It calls for scientists to carry out investigation and research worldwide," the spokesperson said.

Wang said that since the outbreak of Covid-19, China has taken the lead in working together with the WHO on origin-tracing in an open, transparent and responsible attitude, and the two sides are steadily advancing cooperation and in close communication on the cooperation and work plan related to origin-tracing going forward.

"We hope that relevant countries will do the same as China does and actively cooperate with the WHO so that we can better prevent similar public health crises from occurring, and be better prepared to deal with a similar crisis when it does occur," he added.

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