China sent a batch of nucleic acid testing kits to the National Institute of Infectious Disease in Japan, the spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Japan said Thursday.

Japan was facing a shortage of testing kits as authorities had quarantined hundreds of passengers aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship. On Wednesday, the ship's quarantine officially ended, after 621 cases of novel coronavirus were confirmed.

"The virus knows no borders, China is ready to continue to provide assistance to the Japanese side within its capacity, conduct close communication and cooperation, work together to overcome the epidemic at an early date and jointly safeguard the health and safety of the two sides as well as regional and global public health security," said the spokesperson.