The WHO situation reports had 258 confirmed cases in Hubei Province on the 21st of January [0]. Now 3 weeks later China is quarantined and new emergency hospitals have already built. The speed and organisation behind that response tells me that the fog of uncertainty still lies heavy and whatever the Chinese government estimates might be they are not being published in the WHO situation reports.
As other countries start managing outbreaks the picture of exactly how bad this is will be a clearer. In no small part because the monitoring infrastructure will be ready in advance of cases appearing.
[0] https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2...