BEIJING — China delivered its strongest statement of confidence yet that it has tamed the country’s coronavirus epidemic, announcing on Wednesday it would hold a much-delayed top political gathering late next month and ease quarantine restrictions in the capital.

The most important event on China’s political calendar, the annual session of the National People’s Congress will provide the Communist Party with a platform intended to inspire national pride and reassert its primacy. The gathering of top officials from across China will also allow the party to demonstrate unity at a time when many in North America, Europe, Africa and Australia are highly critical of China’s initial efforts to conceal the severity of the outbreak.

“The narrative is that the Chinese way of doing things, the China model, is better than other countries in controlling the virus,” said Willy Lam, a specialist in Beijing politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “This is a symbolic event, showing China has won the war.”

The congress is largely ceremonial, with delegates gathering every year to rubber-stamp major decisions. But the decision in February to delay this year’s session came as a shock to many in China, and sent a global signal of the seriousness of the epidemic. Even during the SARS outbreak in 2003, the annual legislative session went ahead as scheduled.