China will work closely with Japan and South Korea to stop the novel coronavirus from spreading across borders, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday.

Zhao made the remark at a daily news conference when asked if China will restrict entry by travelers from Japan and South Korea, countries that have seen an increase of confirmed novel coronavirus cases.

China hopes to discuss the joint prevention and control work with Japan and South Korea and jointly take appropriate and necessary measures to curb the spread of the virus, and maintain regional and global public health security, Zhao said.

China is following closely the epidemic's development in countries such as Japan, South Korea and Italy, Zhao said, adding that these countries have offered valuable support to China in fighting the epidemic.

"China greatly appreciates this," Zhao said. "These countries are friendly to China. It's only natural that we should strengthen cooperation to tackle the epidemic."

China hopes to share information and experience with these countries and offered support that its capacity allows, according to their need, Zhao said.