China says it is not hoarding protective masks

China says it is not "hoarding" face masks amidst soaring global demand related to the coronavirus pandemic.

"I totally disagree," said Hua Chunying , a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a regular news conference on Tuesday, when asked about the allegations.

"At present, the epidemic situation in China is not over, it's still stressful to control imported cases and prevent the ressurgence of indigenous cases, and the demand for related medical supplies also remains high," Hua said.

Hua said China was already making a huge contribution to global public health security by ensuring the safety of 1.4 billion Chinese people.

China on Tuesday reported just one new death from the coronavirus and 48 new cases, claiming that all new cases came from overseas.

In Wuhan, people were ready to jump, cry and “revenge shop” as the Chinese city once at the center of the outbreak reopened.

Hua also said that China was cooperating with Japan after a Japanese destroyer collided with a Chinese fishing boat in the East China Sea on Monday.

Hua said no one had died in the collision and that the cause of the collision and other details including the ships' movements before the accident are under investigation

"At present, China and Japan are maintaining communication on this," she said.

"We hope that Japan will actively cooperate with the investigation to find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible to prevent such incidents from happening again," Hua added.