BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese government white paper described closing outbound traffic from the city of Wuhan in January as a crucial step to stem the spread of the virus in its COVID-19 fight.

On January 22, President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, ordered the immediate imposition of tight restrictions on the movement of people and channels of exit in Hubei and Wuhan, said the white paper "Fighting COVID-19: China in Action."

At around 2 a.m. on January 23, Wuhan City Novel Coronavirus Prevention and Control Command Center issued the No. 1 public notice declaring temporary closure of the city's outbound routes at its airports and railway stations at 10 a.m. the same day. The Ministry of Transport issued an emergency circular suspending passenger traffic into Wuhan from other parts of the country by road or waterway, it added.

"This marked the beginning of an all-out battle to protect Wuhan and Hubei from the epidemic," said the white paper released by the State Council Information Office.