Europe's China-related travel measures should be non-discriminatory: spokesperson

BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- European countries' precautionary travel measures against China should be rooted in science, proportionate and non-discriminatory, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks in response to a relevant question at a daily press briefing.

Wang said that, according to the WHO, the genome data of the virus prevalent in China share the composition of the sequences submitted by other countries which are collected from travelers arriving from China, and no new variant or mutation of known significance was noted.

Wang cited WHO Regional Director for Europe as saying that the SARS-CoV-2 virus variants circulating in China have already been seen in Europe and elsewhere, and the situation in China is not anticipated to significantly impact the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in Europe.

Wang said that, over the past three years since COVID began, almost all COVID variants and their sub-variants have been prevalent in the United States, which means it is one of the countries that host the largest number of COVID variants.

According to data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the new variant XBB.1.5 is spreading rapidly in the United States and has become the fastest-spreading variant in the country, causing more than 43 percent of infections, the spokesperson said.

The United States needs to fully share its domestic COVID information and data with WHO and the international community in a timely, open and transparent manner, and take concrete and effective measures to stop the virus from further spreading, Wang added.