China ready to help Seoul, Tokyo over virus

China's foreign ministry on Thursday said Beijing was willing to do everything it could to help Seoul and Tokyo deal with new virus, as number of cases outside China exceeded, for first time, number inside country.

"We share a collective destiny in face of epidemic," said Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"We are willing to improve and strengn emergency response mechanism with South Korea and Japan, to strengn communication and coordination of epidemic prevention, exchange epidemic information, exchange prevention and control experience and techlogy, and carry out cooperation in fields of diagsis and treatment programs, drug and vaccine research and development," Zhao told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

China on Thursday reported 433 more cases of new coronavirus along with 29 ditional deaths.

Thursday's updates brings mainland China's total to 78,497 cases, and 2,744 deaths.

With illness pushing its way into a sixth continent and number of sick and de rising, crisis has given way to political and diplomatic rows, concern that bordered on panic in some quarters, and a sense that part of world was immune to disease’s spre.

Worries over ever-expanding ecomic fallout of COVID-19 crisis multiplied, with factories idled, tre routes frozen and tourism crippled, while a growing list of nations braced for illness to breach ir borders.

Korea and Japan are two of countries hard-hit by virus, along with Italy, Iran, and China.

Zhao said China was prepared to provide test kits and or medical supplies to Japanese, and ded that local governments and companies in China were providing assistance to Korean areas hit by epidemic.

Chinese government has faced criticism by its own citizens over indications that various departments suppressed critical early information about viral outbreak, allowing it to fester and spre widely.

But state media have in recent weeks trumpeted Beijing as having taken resolute actions against epidemic and are w urging or countries to learn from its experience fighting virus.