BEIJING, Dec 31 —China has detected its first imported case of the new coronavirus variant that is spreading rapidly around Britain, according to a publication run by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The variant was detected in a 23-year-old female student returning to China from Britain, who was tested in Shanghai on Dec. 14, according to the latest edition of China CDC Weekly. The case "poses a great potential threat to the prevention and control of Covid-19 in China”, the publication said. — Reuters