President Joe Biden has said that China was withholding “critical information” on the origins of Covid-19 after the US intelligence community said it did not believe the virus was a bioweapon -- but remained split on whether it escaped from a lab, Reuters reports.

“Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People's Republic of China, yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it,” Biden said in a statement.

Biden said the United States would continue to work with allies to press Beijing to share more information and cooperate with the World Health Organisation.