China is rewriting the history of its handling of the coronavirus outbreak with Beijing looking to take on the role of global Good Samaritan as the disease takes hold in Europe and America, regional experts have warned.

As cases subside at home – national health authorities announced on Friday zero new transmissions for the second consecutive day - China’s autocratic leadership has moved swiftly to snatch a propaganda victory out of the disaster.

While thousands of patients remain in hospital and the death toll of more than 3,200 ticks upward daily as some new infections arrive from travellers returning from abroad, the Chinese government's news-making machine has gone into overdrive.

But the heavy-handed messaging glosses over Beijing’s sluggish initial response, including silencing whistleblowers, and the looming questions over whether disaster could have been averted.