BEIJING — China's culture and tourism authority said on March 18 that it would adopt appropriate and necessary measures to curb the cross-border spread of COVID-19 while paying close attention to the epidemic situation in other countries.

Gao Zheng, head of the industrial development department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said at a press conference in Beijing that the ministry would have real-time contact with online tourism enterprises, online platforms, and travel agencies as preventing imported COVID-19 cases has become a priority in the country's epidemic prevention and control work.

Gao also noted that the ministry's travel alert issued on March 17 had already called on Chinese tourists to assess the risks of infection during trips abroad and postpone trips to high-risk countries and regions.