Liang Wannian, head of the expert group on the novel coronavirus outbreak response and disposal at China's National Health Commission, Friday said the joint expert team of China and the World Health Organization (WHO) is impressed by China's handling of COVID-19 outbreak.

"In the face of this new disease, with no vaccine or effective medicines, the Chinese government has taken decisive measures and contained the epidemic within seven weeks. The measures have safeguarded the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of people, and built up the first defense line for global epidemic prevention and control," Liang told a press conference.

He was responding to questions regarding the details of the China-WHO Joint Mission in China on COVID-19, which was conducted from February 16 to 24 in Beijing and the provinces of Sichuan, Guangdong and Hubei. 

Liang said 25 experts in the mission found measures taken by the Chinese government very flexible and targeted in line with the reality in local regions. 

"Measures were made based on scientific evidence and risk assessment and they've proved to be effective," he said.

The situation in China has shown a positive trend over the past few days with more and more patients recovered from the disease and fewer new cases reported each day.

But government is not the only one to take credit. Liang said the experts were deeply touched by the power of the masses.

"More importantly is the broad participation of the people. It shows the high altruistic spirit of the Chinese people, especially the people of Hubei and Wuhan." 

As the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, Wuhan has been on lockdown since January 23, one day before the Chinese lunar New Year's Eve, and was followed by several other cities in Hubei Province.

Liang called it the "Chinese model," China's experience in dealing with the epidemic.

"There're the traditional methods of epidemic control, the strength of China's system, and the public's participation, together with the application of high-tech. These four have formed a strong joint force," he said.