China’s Xi discusses coronavirus with Trump – state media

In this June 29, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump (left) meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan. (AP File Photo/Susan Walsh)

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on Friday with US President Donald Trump on the novel coronavirus outbreak, emphasizing that Beijing has “spared no effort in fighting the epidemic”, state media reported.

Xi told Trump on the phone that China was “fully confident and capable of defeating the epidemic”, and that “the long-term trend of China’s economic development for the better will not change”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The viral outbreak, which is believed to have originated in central China late last year, has now infected at least 31,000 people and caused 636 deaths, mostly within China.

Local governments across China have locked down cities of tens of millions of people in response to the crisis, while global panic has risen over the more than 240 cases that have emerged in two dozen countries.

Xi called the fight to contain the virus a “people’s war” and told Trump that China has implemented “nationwide mobilization, comprehensive deployment and rapid response” along with “the strictest prevention and control measures” against the virus.

Xi’s comments come hours after the death of a whistleblower doctor who was punished for sharing information about the virus prompted an immense outpouring of public grief and anger over how Chinese authorities have handled the crisis.