The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on Beijing to share data on the origins of the coronavirus, five years after the virus that has swept the world was first detected in Wuhan, China.

“We continue to call on China to share data and access so that we can understand the origins of COVID-19. This is a moral and scientific imperative,” the organization stated.

Without “transparency, sharing, and cooperation” between countries, the world will not be able to “adequately prevent and prepare for” future outbreaks and pandemics, the WHO emphasized.

Most scientists believe the virus was transmitted from animals to humans. In 2021, a WHO-led team traveled to Wuhan and concluded that the virus was probably transmitted from bats to humans via another animal. However, they added that more research was needed.

Last year, FBI Director Christopher Wray stated that his agency assessed a “highly likely potential laboratory event” in Wuhan led to the pandemic, supporting the controversial “laboratory leak” theory. However, U.S. intelligence found no direct evidence to support this claim, and China dismissed it as having “no credibility.”

The origin of the virus has also become a politically contentious issue in the U.S. Earlier this month, a Republican-led congressional subcommittee concluded after a two-year investigation that the virus originated in a laboratory in China. In response, the Democrats on the commission published their own report, arguing that the investigation “failed to find the origin of the virus or improve understanding of how the novel coronavirus emerged.”

Beijing responded to the WHO’s comments on Tuesday, stating that it had shared information about COVID-19 “without hiding it at all.”

“On COVID-19 traceability, China has shared the most data and research results and made the largest contribution to global traceability research,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning.

“WHO’s international experts have repeatedly stated that during their visit to China, they went to all the places they wanted to go and met all the people they wanted to see,” Mao added.

In 2023, genetic data collected from a live food market in Wuhan was uploaded by Chinese scientists to an international database, linking COVID-19 to raccoon dogs. A team of international researchers identified these animals as the “most likely carriers” of the disease.

BYD, China’s best-selling car manufacturer, sold a record number of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles worldwide in 2024, despite fierce competition in its home market.

Tesla’s biggest rival sold 4.3 million EVs and hybrid vehicles in 2024, far exceeding its previously set target of 3.6 million, according to a company statement. “Champion of China, champion of the world,” the company announced in a social media post late Wednesday.

BYD sold more than 1.76 million pure electric vehicles last year, narrowing the gap with Tesla in the race to become the world’s best-selling EV company. Tesla needs to sell 515,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter to reach its target of 1.81 million EVs in 2024, according to sales figures to be released on Thursday. Other Chinese automakers, including Li Auto, Leapmotor (backed by Stellantis), and Xiaomi, also exceeded their targets by selling 500,000, 290,000, and 135,000 EVs in 2024, respectively.

China is expected to sell more electric vehicles, including pure battery-powered cars and plug-in hybrids, than internal combustion engine vehicles for the first time in 2025. This shift is largely due to hundreds of billions of dollars in government subsidies over the past decade.

China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday that it has added 28 U.S. defense enterprises to its export control list.

The ministry stated that China has also banned the export of dual-use products to these companies, effective immediately.

This decision aims to protect national security and fulfill international obligations, including nuclear non-proliferation, the ministry explained.

Additionally, it was reported that 10 companies were included in the list of unreliable organizations due to their involvement in arms sales to Taiwan.

Among the companies on the sanctions list are General Dynamics, Boeing Defence, Space & Security, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and Raytheon Missiles & Defence.