The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday denounced Western media's "distorted" reports about China's optimization of its COVID-19 response measures. 

The ministry's spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing when asked to comment on such reports that they are full of biased hype and smear and driven by political calculations, which neither stand up to the examination of facts nor conform to the truth. 

Wang noted that since the pandemic began, the Chinese government has put the people and their lives first. It has mobilized all resources and made every effort to protect people's life and health, managing to contain rounds of outbreaks and tiding over the most difficult period where the virus runs rampant. 

He said China has the lowest rate of COVID-19 serious illness and death compared with other countries, and its average life expectancy, a basic measure of national well-being, increased from 77.3 years in 2019 to 78.2 years in 2021.

As Omicron's pathogenicity and virulence have decreased and China has continued to improve its medical treatment, pathogen detection and vaccination, China optimized its COVID-19 response measures, introducing the 20 refined measures and the 10 new measures in sequence and downgrading management of COVID-19 to Class-B infectious diseases, Wang said.

He added that what China did is scientific, timely and necessary in order to ensure people's life and health and minimize the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development.

All countries will go through an adaptation period when adjusting their COVID-19 response policies, and China is no exception, he stressed, adding China's COVID situation is on the whole predictable and under control.

He pointed out that several Western media agencies deliberately hyped up and distorted China's COVID-19 response policy, while ignoring the chaotic COVID-19 control situation and the heavy price paid by it in their own countries. 

"This is a complete double standard and a serious violation of journalistic ethics," said Wang.

(Cover: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a regular press conference in Beijing, China, December 28, 2022. /Chinese Foreign Ministry)