BEIJING (AFP): Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on Friday (Feb 7) with US President Donald Trump on the novel coronavirus outbreak, emphasising that Beijing has "spared no effort in fighting the epidemic", Xinhua reported.

Xi told Trump on the phone that China was "fully confident and capable of defeating the epidemic", and that "the long-term trend of China's economic development for the better will not change", according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The viral outbreak, which is believed to have originated in central China late last year, has now infected at least 31,000 people and caused 636 deaths, mostly within China.

Local governments across China have locked down cities of tens of millions of people in response to the crisis, while global panic has risen over the more than 240 cases that have emerged in two dozen countries.

Xi called the fight to contain the virus a "people's war" and told Trump that China has implemented "nationwide mobilisation, comprehensive deployment and rapid response" along with "the strictest prevention and control measures" against the virus. - AFP