Minister of Health Gao Qiang on Wednesday blasted an overseas report on China's bird flu epidemic situation, saying it was "completely against the truth and ill-meaning."

Media workers shoulder the responsibility to provide accurate and reliable information to the general public, which not only meets the needs of the public for information, but also safeguards the reputation of the media, Gao said at a press conference.

According to him, an "overseas newspaper" recently carried a report saying that a Japanese expert, who claimed that he was hired by the World Health Organization (WHO), said in Germany last week that bird flu had killed 300 people in China, involving seven cases of human-to-human transmission.

The WHO held a press conference a couple of days ago in which it denied hiring the Japanese expert.

Gao said cooperation between China and the WHO was successful and China did not cover up its bird flu epidemic situation.

The Japanese expert himself also released a statement via the Internet, saying that his report was inaccurate and misleading, Gao said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2005)