China willing to strengthen cooperation with Japan on fighting COVID-19

China is willing to continue maintaining close communication and coordination with Japan and strengthening bilateral cooperation in fighting novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, a spokesperson said Monday.

Epidemic prevention workers transfer confirmed patients infected with the novel coronavirus on the "Diamond Princess," a cruise ship which has been kept in quarantine, to an ambulance on the port of Yokohama in Japan, Feb. 5, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks when asked to comment on the epidemic situation in Japan at the daily press briefing online.

Geng said China is closely following the novel coronavirus epidemic development in Japan, and called on the international community, especially neighboring countries, to step up cooperation and jointly tackle the challenge as virus knows no border.

He said China is thankful for and would never forget the sincere support and assistance offered by the Japanese government and people from all walks of life, adding that China has stood ready to share information and experience with Japan and offer support and assistance to Japan as per its needs, although the epidemic situation in China remains tough.

"In fact, the two sides have already started detailed arrangements in this field," Geng added.

"We would like to continue maintaining close communication and coordination with Japan and strengthening bilateral cooperation in epidemic control, so as to jointly protect lives and health of the two peoples and uphold regional and global public health security," Geng said.