China reviewing WHO proposal for new study into coronavirus origins including lab audits

Foreign ministry says further research on ‘global origins tracing’ needs to be decided through consensus and should not be politicised

It comes after UN body’s chief called on Beijing to be ‘transparent, open and cooperate’ especially on raw data from early days of pandemic

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WHO team member Peter Ben Embarek visits the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan on January 31. There is growing pressure for the investigation to continue. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:53pm, 16 Jul 2021Updated: 10:17pm, 16 Jul 2021

China said it was reviewing a World Health Organization proposal for new research into the origins of Covid-19, a day after the UN body signalled it was moving forward on a second phase of the investigation.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Friday said the proposal was being considered by Chinese experts and that further research on “global origins tracing” needed to be decided through consensus.

“Tracing the origins is a scientific issue. All parties should respect the opinion of the scientists and refrain from politicising the origin tracing,” Zhao said in response to a question at a regular briefing.

It comes after WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday said getting access to raw data was a “challenge” for a WHO-led mission to China earlier this year.

“Now we have designed the second phase of the study, and we are asking China to be transparent, open and cooperate, especially on the information, raw data that we ask for on the early days of the pandemic,” Tedros said.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said accessing raw data was a “challenge” for a team of experts in China earlier this year. Photo: Reuters

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