The comments at a regional summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan come after a decision by the conservative Taliban authorities to bar women from working for the United Nations sparked international outrage.

Global unease has grown about the accuracy of China's reporting of an outbreak that has filled hospitals and overwhelmed some funeral homes since Beijing abruptly reversed its 'zero Covid' policy.

China's axing of its stringent controls last month has unleashed Covid on a 1.4 billion population that has little natural immunity having been shielded from the virus since it emerged in its Wuhan city three years ago.

China's abrupt U-turn on Covid controls, as well as the accuracy of its case and mortality data, have come under increasing scrutiny at home and overseas and prompted some countries to impose travel curbs.

The world's fourth-most populous country has recorded more than 6.7 million cases overall, with 160,583 fatalities.

The move comes after Japan, India and Malaysia announced stepped up rules on travelers from China in the last 24 hours, citing a rise in infections there.

Visitor arrivals to the world's biggest gambling hub dropped by 36.8% on the month and 54.3% year-on-year to 366,511 in November, reports say.

Hospitals are struggling, pharmacy shelves are stripped bare and crematoriums are overwhelmed in the wake of the Chinese government's sudden decision to lift years of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing.

China abruptly began dismantling its stringent 'zero-Covid' regime of mass lockdowns after protests against curbs that had largely kept the virus at bay for three years but at significant costs.

The world's most populous nation is unwinding years of hardline coronavirus policy, with Covid spreading rapidly in the wake of the official end of mass lockdowns, testing and quarantines.

China has not reported any Covid deaths since Dec 7, when it abruptly ended most restrictions key to a zero-Covid tolerance policy following unprecedented public protests.

China's national health authority has not reported any official Covid deaths since the policy switch.