China’s Foreign Ministry rejects AP report that it sat on COVID-19 info for over two weeks

At a daily press conference on Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian rejected a report published on Tuesday, citing that Beijing delayed COVID-19 information sharing with the World Health Organization (WHO).

On Tuesday, citing the internal documents, emails and dozens of interviews, the Associated Press (AP) reported that the “Chinese officials sat on releasing the genetic map, or genome, of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) for over a week after multiple government labs had fully decoded it, not sharing details key to designing tests, drugs and vaccines.”

Market reaction

China’s response to the controversial report fails to spoil the upbeat market mood, with USD/JPY challenging daily highs near 107.80 amid a rally in the global stocks and US equity futures. AUD/USD, however, reversed the rally to five-month tops of 0.6983 and now trades flat at 0.6890.