BEIJING — China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, toured Wuhan, the city at the center of a now global epidemic, for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak began, hoping to demonstrate that his government was containing a crisis that has tarnished his image at home and abroad.

Wearing a blue mask, Mr. Xi stopped short of declaring victory, but his visit was clearly intended to send a powerful signal that the government believes the worst of the national emergency could soon be over in China — just as others countries are being struck by their own outbreaks. As if to echo the message, some cities, even in surrounding province of Hubei, announced plans to loosen some of the most onerous limits imposed on millions of people.

“Hubei and Wuhan have been the very most decisive battleground in this struggle to contain the epidemic,” Mr. Xi said in remarks reported by state media late Tuesday. “Through arduous efforts, there has been a promising turn in epidemic containment in Hubei and Wuhan, and we’ve achieved important interim results.”

Mr. Xi and other Communist Party officials have faced a torrent of criticism at home and abroad for the initial delays and obfuscation that hastened the virus’s spread. Now that the rate of infections is slowing, they have responded by portraying China as a trailblazer in the global effort to contain the coronavirus.