Question: According to German media report, the German foreign intelligence service concluded based on their evidence that the outbreak of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic in 2020 could well have been triggered by an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan, China. What’s your comment? What’s China’s position on the COVID pandemic?

We have stated China’s position on this issue for many times. We believe the COVID-19 origins-tracing is a matter of science, and the judgement should be made by scientists and the science-based spirit should be upheld. It is “extremely unlikely” that the pandemic was caused by a lab leak—this is the authoritative conclusion reached by the experts of the WHO-China joint mission based on science following their field trips to the lab in Wuhan and in-depth communication with researchers. The conclusion has been widely acknowledged by the international community, including the science community. 

On the COVID-19 origins-tracing, we firmly oppose all forms of political manipulation.