The World Health Organisation's director-general said late on Sunday he was on his way to Beijing to confer with Chinese officials and health experts about the coronavirus outbreak.

In a tweet, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he wanted to "strengthen our partnership" with China "in providing further protection against the outbreak". Chinese authorities say it has infected 2,051 people and killed 56.

The Geneva-based WHO also said editors of major scientific journals had agreed to share any papers about the new coronavirus with it before publication, with authors' consent, and that this would help inform its assessment and guidance.