China's foreign ministry has warned against what it calls possible political manipulation of a renewed probe by the World Health Organisation (WHO) into the origins of the coronavirus, reports AP.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China would continue to support and participate in global scientific tracing and firmly oppose any forms of political manipulation.

The WHO released on Wednesday a proposed list of 25 experts to advise it on next steps in the search for the virus origins after its earlier efforts were attacked for going easy on China.