Beijing said on Thursday that it has lodged stern representations with the countries that have terminated flights to and from China due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). These measures go against the expert advice from the World Health Organization (WHO) and have caused panic among the general public, one official said.

"These proposed acts are not for the control of the epidemic, but create panic. Both the normal operation of people-to-people exchanges and the regulation of the international aviation transportation market has been severely obstructed," said Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

According to the head of the WHO, "Travel restrictions can cause more harm than good by hindering info-sharing, medical supply chains and harming economies." The committee has also spoken highly of China's effective measures taken during this time.

Hua added that China put strict virus prevention efforts into practice after the news of the outbreak, and "the measures are making positive outcomes."

"We understand and respect their appropriate response such as border screening and quarantine measures on Chinese travelers," Hua said, noting that some countries have "overreacted with excessive measures which clearly runs counter to WHO recommendations."

"We hope that all countries can assess the epidemic situation in an objective, fair, calm and rational manner, respect WHO recommendations, and understand and support China's epidemic control efforts," the spokesperson said, urging countries that are overreacting to think twice.

"We hope these countries can stop restricting airlines from operating flights," Hua said. "We hope to see their support for China from their actual measures."