In a rare public appearance, China’s President Xi Jinping has visited health staff in Beijing treating patients infected with the coronavirus. We also hear about how transmissible the virus may become outside of China.
The number of people killed by the new coronavirus rose by 97 on Sunday, the highest number of casualties in a day.
The total number of deaths in China is now 908 – but the number of newly-infected people per day has stabilised.
Across China, 40,171 people are infected while 187,518 are under medical observation.
Meanwhile, 60 more people have tested positive on a cruise ship quarantined in Japan – meaning 130 out of 3,700 passengers have caught the virus.
In This Story: Beijing
Beijing, China’s sprawling capital, has history stretching back 3 millennia. Yet it’s known as much for modern architecture as its ancient sites such as the grand Forbidden City complex, the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
China is the third largest country in the world by area and the largest country in the world by population. Properly known as the People’s Republic of China, the political territory of the country includes Tibet and Hong Kong. The capital is Beijing.
Japan is an island country in East Asia located in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan comprises an archipelago of 6,852 islands covering 377,975 square kilometers (145,937 sq mi); the country’s five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is Japan’s capital and largest city.
Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37.4 million residents.
Japan is a great power and a member of numerous international organizations, including the United Nations (since 1956), the OECD, and the G7. Japan is a leader in the automotive and electronics industries.
Xi Jinping has been the President of China since 2013 and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) since 2012.