President Xi Jinping said China would defeat the “devil” coronavirus that has killed more than 100 people in the country, as Hong Kong moved to isolate itself from the spread of the disease by closing its high-speed rail link to the mainland.

“The epidemic is a devil. We cannot let the devil hide,” Mr Xi said in a meeting with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, in Beijing on Tuesday, according to state media.

Following comments from the mayor of Wuhan, the quarantined city at the centre of the outbreak, that details of the Sars-like virus were not disclosed as quickly as they could have been, Mr Xi said information would be shared “transparently, responsibly and in a timely way”. He added: “We have complete confidence and ability to win this defensive battle against the epidemic.”