Xie Feng, the commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), on Friday called on the international community to pull together to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Xie made the remarks during a press conference on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

In the battle against the epidemic, China has notified the WHO and relevant countries and regions of the outbreak and shared information such as the genetic sequence in a timely manner, he said.

"We facilitated the field visit by WHO experts to Wuhan in the early days, and have collaborated with the WHO in coordinating and guiding global efforts," he said.

China has fulfilled the international obligations by promptly addressing reasonable concerns of foreign nationals in China and protecting their health and safety like Chinese nationals, Xie said.

"We are living in a global village with a shared future. Public health issues have no boundaries in such a globalized era, and no country can stay immune," he continued.

"In the face of the epidemic, we need to pull together, instead of turning against each other. We hope countries will respect the professional and authoritative advice by the WHO, maintain normal economic cooperation, trade and people-to-people exchanges with China, and stop overreaction and fear-mongering. 

"We are all in the same boat, and China is making a significant contribution to the world by doing whatever it takes to contain the coronavirus. Therefore, standing with China is standing with the international community as a whole."

Xie added that "in the face of the epidemic, we especially need to guard against and firmly combat the virus of discrimination, hatred and racism."

"It's simply wrong to identify a virus with a particular nationality, region or race," he said.

Noting that the HKSAR is also under the threat of the outbreak, Xie said the central government has and will maintain close communication with the HKSAR government and support and facilitate science-based and targeted efforts to control the outbreak, and protect the safety and health of Hong Kong compatriots and foreign citizens in Hong Kong.