The 10th
Beijing
International Film Festival (BJIFF) has been postponed until further notice in view of the
coronavirus epidemic, the festival's organising committee announced on Sunday. The movie gala was scheduled to take place between April 19-26.
The annual festival has been deferred in consideration of the safety and health of all the guests, participants and the public, as well as to coordinate with the overall epidemic prevention work in the city.
"We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the postponement of the event and we will announce the possible date of the festival as soon as possible," the statement read.
The novel virus originated in the Chinese city of
Wuhan
in December last year and has claimed over 3,000 lives in the country.
Many events around the world have been cancelled amid the COVID-19 outbreak, including film festivals and music concerts. Release of much-awaited
James Bond
film "
No Time to Die
" has also been pushed by seven months to November.
Apart from China, over 3,400 people have died of the deadly disease and over 101,000 have been infected from the virus globally.