China has taken aggressive measures to combat a lethal viral outbreak sweeping the country, enacting the most comprehensive and strict efforts to contain the illness, President Xi Jingping told his American counterpart in a phone call.

Having declared a “people’s war” on the fast-spreading coronavirus, Xi told President Donald Trump that China was “fully confident and capable” of overcoming the epidemic and was already seeing positive results, adding that Beijing's long term economic prospects would not change.

Trump responded by expressing confidence in Beijing’s “strength and resilience” in confronting the virus, Reuters reported.