Coronavirus: China hails 'extraordinary' success in curbing virus

China’s ruling Communist Party leaders have congratulated themselves on their “extremely extraordinary” success in handling the Covid-19 outbreak domestically, ahead of a World Health Organisation probe into the disease’s origins.

The virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan last December.

China’s Politburo, the top decision-making body of the Communist Party, said late Friday that the party leadership “played a decisive role in leading ... China in prevailing over the rare risks and challenges this year.”

“At the critical moment ... the Party Central Committee took a long-term view ...achieving an extremely extraordinary glory in this extremely unusual year,” state news agency Xinhua reported, citing a statement issued after the two-day meeting.

China has largely curbed the spread of the virus, and was one of the only major economies to report growth this year.

The two-day Politburo meeting comes shortly before an international team of WHO experts is expected to arrive in China to investigate the animal origins of Covid-19, during which trip they will visit Wuhan.

An expert from the team told AFP this week that the investigation was “not about finding a guilty country or a guilty authority”, but about “about understanding what happened to avoid that in the future”.

China has promised to share its vaccines with developing countries, and engaging in “mask diplomacy” — donating personal protective gear to countries in need.