China's National Bureau for Disease Control and Prevention was officially inaugurated in capital city Beijing Thursday.

The inauguration marks a transition of the role of China's disease control institutions from simply preventing and controlling diseases to comprehensively safeguarding and promoting the health of the whole population.

Under the administration of the National Health Commission (NHC), the bureau will mainly take on responsibilities in policy formulation, supervision and management for infectious disease containment and public health, and guide in the construction of several systems concerning disease containment, epidemic monitoring and early warning, and scientific research.

"The establishment of a national-level disease prevention and control agency that covers a wide range can comprehensively improve the country's disease containment level and treatment capacity," China's top respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan told the Qiangguo Forum of People's Daily Online in an interview on April 30 after Wang Hesheng, deputy director of the NHC, was appointed head of the new agency. 

"The new agency will help us better respond to public health emergencies, organize and mobilize national efforts to prevent and control them," said Zhong.

The establishment indicated that China has promoted disease prevention and control to a more important position, said Wang Hufeng, professor with the School of Public Administration and Policy of Renmin University of China, as reported by chinanews.com.

"It will also help upgrade China's experience in coping with the COVID-19 epidemic to an institutional level, which is of great and far-reaching significance to implementing the 'Healthy China Strategy,'" said Wang.

Luan Rongsheng, professor with West China School of Public Health of Sichuan University, said the new agency, with more independent functions and greater authority, can integrate internal resources, which ensures more swift and efficient responses when facing major epidemics and public health emergencies.