"The Chinese side has an open position regarding the scientific cooperation with the international scientific community to study the origin of the coronavirus. At the same time, we believe that this process should be professional, fair and constructive. By fair we mean that in the study of the [COVID-19] origin, political interference should be avoided," the minister said at his annual press conference.
The minister also said that during this process, the sovereignty of all countries must be respected, adding that Beijing opposed the "presumption of guilt."