Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, the first time he has done so since the epidemic began and a sign that Beijing believes its control efforts are at a turning point, as new cases tumble.

News of the visit gave a lift to Chinese stocks, with the blue-chip index climbing back into positive territory after falling as much as 1pc in morning trade.

Mainland China had 19 new coronavirus infections on Monday, the National Health Commission said, down from 40 a day earlier. It also marked the third straight day of no new locally transmitted coronavirus cases outside of Hubei.

Read more here.