China and South Korea join in providing assistance

Wang said the two countries have a common interest in strengthening the sharing of viral research and epidemic prevention and control information.

"Many countries have overreacted to Chinese and South Korean citizens due to the outbreak, which not only affects the legitimate rights and interests of people from the two countries, but also the two nations' global image. The valuable experiences of China and South Korea in fighting the outbreak should be shared with the world, and the two neighbors will serve as a model for other countries," Wang added.

At a news conference on March 13, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China and South Korea had set up a joint prevention and control mechanism to cope with the virus and had held their first video conference on the outbreak on Friday.

He said the aim of the mechanism is to implement the important consensus reached between the two countries' leaders to strengthen communication and coordination to win the battle against the virus as soon as possible.

Geng said the mechanism, supervised by the two countries' foreign ministries, involves officials from the departments of public health, education, customs, immigration and civil aviation.

He added that during the conference, both countries spoke positively of their epidemic control efforts in the early stages, as well as bilateral exchanges and cooperation between departments.