A Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday reaffirmed China's responsible attitude to conducting research on COVID-19 origins and the country's remarkable contribution to the area recognized by the whole world.

Photo taken on March 30, 2021 shows an exterior view of the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo: Xinhua)

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a routine press briefing in Beijing that China was the first country to support WHO in carrying out virus origin-tracing research after the pandemic broke out.

From January 14 till February 10, a WHO team and Chinese experts made a joint research trip to Wuhan for nearly a month and released a report with large amounts of data analysis, he noted.

US officials have said that China wasn’t transparent about tracing the origin of COVID-19. In response, Zhao said, "Some Americans bragged about getting the truth. They were actually thinking about political manipulation.

"They tainted China regardless of their own flaws in virus origin-tracing and the country's failure in pandemic control."

Zhao noted that conspiracies such as the Wuhan super-lab theory and other misinformation disrespected the scientific spirit and research of experts from WHO, and "defamed and sabotaged the efforts of the global community in combating the virus."

The evidence, reports and research demonstrated that the coronavirus had spread around the world by late 2019, Zhao said.

"If the US calls for complete transparency and investigation, they should invite experts from the WHO to conduct an origin-tracing research trip in the US, just like China," he said.

The US should open up Fort Detrick and its other bio labs around the world, Zhao suggested.

Washington should reveal "detailed data and information of respiratory outbreak in Virginia in July 2019 and the outbreak of illnesses related to e-cigarette use in Wisconsin," he said.

Zhao urged the US and other countries to cooperate with the WHO in a scientific, open and transparent manner.

"Origin-tracing is a scientific issue to enhance people's understanding of the virus and better prevent epidemics that may occur in the future," Zhao said.

(Compiled by Han Xiaomeng)