Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has called for efforts to consolidate the achievements in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 outbreak in central China's Hubei Province, which was the hardest-hit region in the country. 

Xi, who is also the Chinese president, made the remarks on Wednesday while chairing a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. 

During the meeting, CPC leaders heard a report of a central guiding group overseeing the novel coronavirus response in Hubei Province. The group returned to Beijing last week after working in Hubei for three months. The meeting also studied ways to improve systems for regular epidemic prevention and control. 

The central guiding group "fought side by side" with the people in Hubei Province, including its capital Wuhan, and made maximum efforts to control the outbreak and safeguard the country's first line of defense against COVID-19, Xi said, hailing its important contributions to defeating the epidemic in China.

The spread of COVID-19 outside China has not been effectively controlled yet, and clustered infections have occurred in some individual places in China, he noted, warning of "significant uncertainties" regarding the pandemic. 

Although Hubei has adjusted its epidemic prevention and control response to a regular level from the level of extraordinary emergency, it does not mean there can be any relaxation in containment measures, he stressed. 

Hubei lowered its novel coronavirus emergency response level from the highest to the second-highest last Saturday, more than three weeks after outbound travel restrictions on Wuhan were lifted. 

Local health authorities said on Wednesday that no new confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in the province for 32 consecutive days since April 4.

On Monday, a newly-formed liaison group of the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 arrived in Wuhan for the next phase of epidemic prevention and control. 

Xi called on the liaison group to supervise the implementation of regular epidemic prevention and control measures in Hubei and Wuhan, consolidate what has been achieved and ensure that previous efforts are not wasted. 

The liaison group should also facilitate the implementation of targeted policies to promote economic and social development in Hubei, he said, calling for more efforts to restore the order of production and life in the province. 

Xi made an inspection trip to Wuhan on March 10. 

According to a statement released after the meeting, China will reform its disease prevention and control system, improve the capacity for epidemic monitoring and early warning, and encourage a green and environmentally friendly way of life among residents.