Calling the coronavirus a "demon," Xi told Tedros that he would not "let a demon hide" as he vouched for his Government's ability to handle the crisis.
In return, China's official Xinhua News Agency described Tedros as praising Xi for "personally commanding" the outbreak response and "showing excellent leadership."
Although international experts have largely praised the speed and methods with which Chinese scientists have carried out research into the novel virus, the Communist Party leadership has come under growing criticism about its handling of the epidemic in its critical early days and its politicisation of the international public health response.
Xi's meeting with the WHO chief came a day after the Mayor of Wuhan triggered a firestorm by publicly suggesting that he had not been allowed to speak out earlier about the epidemic.
Hong Kong announced dramatic measures to stem the flow of mainland Chinese into the territory, closing two railways, ferries and cross-border tour buses. Flights to mainland China will be slashed by half, and individual visas to Chinese will no longer be issued, starting tomorrow.
The number of Chinese citizens on travel lockdown has increased to 54 million with the addition of Shiyan. China is attempting to seal off the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, centered around Wuhan in Hubei province and cutting all travel links.
Shiyan, the "Detroit of the East," is an industrial city of over 3.4 million known for its auto sector.
Several countries, including France, South Korea, Canada, Britain and the United States are putting together plans to evacuate their citizens from the outbreak epicentre in Wuhan.
Germany has reported its first case, while Thailand has confirmed six more cases, bringing its total to 14 amid calls by many Asian populations to close the borders to Chinese visitors. Infections have been confirmed in France, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, Canada and Sri Lanka.
North Korea, which already banned foreign tourists from entering the country, has now imposed a one-month quarantine on any foreigners who come in, including diplomats and aid workers.
The Russian Embassy in Pyongyang said it had been informed by North Korea's Foreign Ministry that "all foreigners" who have recently visited China will be isolated and kept under medical supervision for a month.
Russia has closed its border with China in three of its Far East regions amid fears of the coronavirus outbreak, according to state-run news agency Tass.
It's one of a number of precautions Russia has taken, though the country's consumer safety regulator, Rospotrebnadzor, said that there haven't been any cases of coronavirus recorded here yet. The border crossings in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Khabarovsk and Amur regions will be closed until February 7.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his website that monitoring of hotels and popular tourist sites has been heightened.
"If any alarming signals are identified, medical brigades will be dispatched to these sites immediately to carry out all-round checks," he said.
Meanwhile, blocked from travelling and encouraged to stay indoors, millions of Chinese have found an unusual way to pass the time: watching hospitals get built - in real time.
Remarkable numbers of Chinese netizens watched grainy, wide-angle footage of workers flattening earth at the site of two temporary hospitals being built to treat the growing number of patients in Wuhan.
Twin live streams showcasing work on the Huoshenshan and Leishenshan hospitals together had an average of 18 million concurrent views, according the South China Morning Post. The footage was hosted by CCTV, China's state broadcaster.
Facing public anger, authorities promised to build two hospitals in 10 days - a response calibrated to show resolve and showcase Chinese know-how. The live streams appear to be a nod to calls for transparency.
The fact that so many people chose to watch the slow-moving coverage shows both the extent to which boredom is taking hold, as well as public interest in how the Chinese Communist Party is responding.
China's leaders have vowed to use the hulking architecture of the state to help those affected. The footage, boring as it may be, gives ordinary people a rare chance to show they're keeping watch.
