BEIJINGAccusations by the United States that Beijing had ordered coronavirus samples to be destroyed and that China refused to share the virus strain are deliberately misleading, said the National Health Commission on Friday (May 15).
It was also only on Jan 19 that the health authorities found "conclusive evidence" of human-to-human transmission, said the commission's vice-minister Zeng Yixin, dispelling nagging allegations of a cover-up.
China has been coming under fire for purportedly keeping the severity of the outbreak under wraps, a point of contention for countries from the US to Australia calling for an investigation into Beijing's culpability.
The previous month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of ordering coronavirus samples to be destroyed on Jan 3, and refusing to share the virus strain with other countries, "making it impossible to track the disease's evolution".
These "theories" perpetuated by "some US officials are deliberate misinterpretations aimed to mislead", said a deputy director of the commission, Mr Liu Dengfeng, at a news briefing on Friday.
Health experts were facing a pneumonia of unknown cause, he said.
"In order to forestall the leaking of samples and ensure biosecurity, we took advice from experts and decided to put this pathogen under Tier 2 highly pathogenic micro-organism management and there were clear instructions on the collection, transport, experimental activities and destruction of such samples," he said.
"If a lab doesn't have the necessary conditions to store samples, they should destroy the samples on site or send them to professional storage institutions. Those are strictly enforced rules."
China is also ready to share the coronavirus strains to help other countries in finding a vaccine, he said.
Relations plunged to new lows after the Trump administration blamed Beijing for the virus.
China has lashed back, accusing the US of trying to divert attention from its own mishandling of the outbreak, and making it the scapegoat.
On Friday, top Chinese officials also gave a timeline of the country's reaction to the new virus in the critical first few weeks of January, saying it had no definitive proof before Jan 19 that the virus could be transmitted through human contact.
"In the early stage of the epidemic, we were not sure of its transmissibility and incubation period or the source of infection. We strengthened epidemiological investigation to help with our decision-making.
"We did all that work to answer the unknown questions," said Mr Zeng, the vice-minister.
He said health experts confirmed on Jan 9 that the country was dealing with a novel coronavirus and China "sent a clear warning to the world".
After Thailand discovered on Jan 13 its first confirmed casea Chinese woman from Wuhanhealth chiefs from around the country convened a national teleconference the following day to come up with a national response.
Meanwhile, state-owned China National Biotec Group said on Thursday that two of the vaccines it is developing could be ready by the end of this year or early next year.
It's two vaccine candidates in phase two clinical trials and will be testing their efficacy in phase three trials.
As several as 110 vaccines are being developed, with eight undergoing clinical trials: four in China, three in the US, and one in Britain, says the World Health Organization.