BEIJING, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- China has commended national religious groups for their works to aid in the novel coronavirus fight.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, religious circles have taken swift actions to temporarily close religious venues, suspend collective religious activities and postpone the new semester in religious academies, which played a positive role in fighting the epidemic, according to a joint video conference held Tuesday.

The religious groups have also donated money and materials worth over 300 million yuan (about 43 million U.S. dollars) to fight the epidemic as of Feb. 7.

The conference called on the religious groups to further carry on the patriotic tradition, fulfill their social responsibilities and give priority to the prevention and control of the epidemic in their work.