China's donation to WHO for coronavirus prevention, control: spokesperson

China's donation of US$20 million to the World Health Organization will be used to support the global fight against COVID-19, and the construction of public health systems in developing countries, foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Monday at a news briefing.

Noting that the COVID-19 outbreak has spread to many places around the world, Geng said international cooperation on joint prevention and control has become more urgent.

He said China's donation aims to support the WHO in playing a better coordinating role in international action against the epidemic, especially helping small and medium-sized countries with weak public health systems build up their epidemic-prevention abilities.

The Chinese side will continue to actively support and participate in international cooperation to fight the epidemic, and work with the international community to safeguard regional and international public health security, Geng said.

China has decided to donate US$20 million to the WHO, which was declared by China's Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva Chen Xu when meeting with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday.