White paper debunks 'lab leak' theory, calls for origins-tracing in the US

China has actively carried out open and transparent investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 virus and concrete evidence has ruled out the Wuhan laboratory leak theory, according to a white paper released on Wednesday.

Chinese authorities also called for the next phase of origins-tracing to focus on the United States and urged the US to stop feigning deafness to international concerns and share relevant data promptly.

The white paper, released by the State Council Information Office, said that China has dedicated substantial resources into tracking origins of the virus with global scientists and consistently maintained an open, transparent and scientific manner.

The nation has spearheaded research in key fields covering clinical epidemiology, molecular epidemiology, environmental epidemiology and tracing of animal hosts while fully cooperating with the World Health Organization.

Key findings were released in March 2021 in a report stemming from a 28-day joint study that was carried out in Wuhan, Hubei province, by Chinese experts together with foreign experts dispatched by the WHO.

The report rules out the possibility of Wuhan being the natural origin of the virus and ascertains that the theory of the virus coming from a laboratory leak in Wuhan is extremely unlikely.

"To date, no findings have contradicted the conclusions of the study. It is fair to say that the study on the origins of SARS-CoV-2 conducted in China has ended," said the white paper.

The white paper stressed that the US has refused to examine its own failure in handling the pandemic. Rather, it has shifted blame and attempted to politicize origins-tracing action, which undermined international solidarity in battling the pandemic and safeguarding global health.

Enumerating a series of questionable events pointing to suspicious, early COVID-19 cases in the US, the white paper said that COVID-19 may have emerged in the US sooner than the public timeline and sooner than the outbreak in China.

"A thorough and in-depth investigation into the origins of the virus should be conducted in the US," it said.

The National Health Commission said in a statement released on Wednesday that numerous research shows that the COVID-19 virus originated from overseas and the next phase of origins-tracing work should primarily focus on the US.