BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- China has seen its current number of confirmed COVID-19 cases dropped to 959 on Wednesday, the first time for the number to fall below 1,000, the National Health Commission said at a press conference.

By the end of Wednesday, more than half of the imported cases in China have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the commission, at the press conference on Thursday.