China will send teams of doctors to Italy to fight the new coronavirus epidemic that has swept the country and will seek to supply it with medical equipment and aid, Xi Jinping told premier Giuseppe Conte on Monday, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
During a phone conversation with Conte, Xi praised efforts by authorities to battle the coronavirus outbreak in Italy that has seen more cases and deaths than in any country other than China, read a tweet from the Chinese embassy.
China is confident that Italy will defeat the current coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, Xi told Conte.
There have been 23,073 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 2,158 deaths in Italy according to figures published on Monday by the civil protection agency. This makes the country the biggest infection centre outside China.
Global deaths and infections from the coronavirus have now overtaken those inside China for the first time since the beginning of the outbreak.
Worldwide infections exceed 87,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, while there were 80,860 cases in China as of Monday, according to the Chinese National Health Commission.
Deaths outside China have risen to at least 3,241, according to Johns Hopkins, while deaths inside China stand at 3,208 (excluding four in Hong Kong and one in Taiwan).
