China makes bombshell claim about where Covid-19 originated following lab leak accusations

China has alleged that the US 'covered up the truth' of the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting that it might have started in the States rather than Wuhan.

Beijing blasted the US' 'botched' response to dealing with Covid-19, while claiming the nation 'sabotaged' international efforts to stop the deadly spread.

China's State Council Information Office released a damning report that rubbishes the idea that the virus was accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, as the US has suggested.

The White Paper instead alleges that the US government made China the 'primary scapegoat' in a bid to cover up it's own mismanagement.

Titled 'Covid-19 Prevention, Control and Origins Tracing: China’s Actions and Stance', the document delves into conspiracy theories which circulated about the origin of coronavirus, claiming these rumours were purposely pedalled by the US in a bid to throw off the scent.

The report alleges that the respiratory virus was detected across the pond way before the first cases emerged in China, insisting that 'numerous studies have shown that it originated outside China'.

China have alleged that Coronavirus originated in the US rather than Wuhan (Ye Xingjian/VCG via Getty Images)

"Prior to the outbreak in Wuhan, multiple regions in the US recorded positive SARS-CoV-2 test results and other evidence of the virus," it states. "The US CDC data indicates that the first confirmed Covid-19 case in Florida was on March 1, 2020.

"However, according to the data on 171 Covid-19 patients published on the Florida Department of Health (DOH) website, the earliest confirmed cases were in January 2020.

"Most of these individuals reported no international travel history, suggesting that the virus was already circulating in local communities at the time. This crucial information about the timing of their diagnosis has since been deleted, and the then data chief at the Florida DOH was fired shortly after."

China claims that findings from a study by the US' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that Covid was 'circulating across the US at a low level as early as December 2019, well before the first official cases were recorded'.

But the report alleges that evidence disproving Wuhan theories and pointing towards the US has been buried, whereas China reckons it has been committed to 'openness, transparency and responsibility' at every stage.

Turning the tables on Donald Trump's country, Beijing also suggested that the virus could have been leaked during an 'incident that occurred in a US bio-technology lab'.

The damning report rubbishes speculation that the virus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

China alleged that there have been thousands of 'serious laboratory incidents' in the States, which meant that the management and conduct of these labs is a 'cause for concern'.

"The US owes the world an explanation," the White Paper goes on. "These questionable events all suggest that Covid-19 may have emerged in the US earlier than the US official timeline, and earlier than the outbreak in China.

"A thorough and in-depth investigation into the origins of the virus should be conducted in the US.

"On April 18, 2025, the White House website published an article yet again misrepresenting China as the source of Covid-19.This once more demonstrates the obsessive US determination to politicise virus origins tracing.

"These attempts to manipulate public opinion will never succeed – the scientific community and the international community are increasingly immune to the incessant falsehoods of the US side."

The country called on the US to stop 'shifting blame and evading responsibility', insisting it cannot 'continue to turn a deaf ear to the numerous questions over its conduct'.

China said Joe Biden's handling of the pandemic was the 'worst of all countries' (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

China branded theories about the Wuhan lab leak as 'entirely baseless', saying that the US had 'ignored' independent experts who found the facility had followed 'strict biosecurity protocols' and did not 'engineer' the virus.

The document also slams then-President Joe Biden and former US health official, infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, for their handling of the pandemic, which it described as 'the worst of all countries'.

"The slow and ineffective US response during the early stages of the outbreak set an appalling example to the international community and made the US performance in handling the pandemic the worst of all countries," the report claims.

"Instead of facing this issue squarely and reflecting on its shortcomings, the US government has tried to shift the blame and divert people’s attention by shamelessly politicising SARS-CoV-2 origins tracing. It has severely undermined joint international efforts in the fight against the pandemic and become a weak link in global public health governance.

"Despite domestic criticisms of its inaction or meddling, the US government has refused to examine its poor performance; rather, it has doubled down on its attempt to evade responsibility. This will inevitably do further damage to its capacity to deal with future public health crises."

More than seven million people have died from Covid since 2020, according to the World Health Organisation.