China has established the world's largest monitoring network for disease and health risk factors, the National Health Commission said Friday.

Noting China has improved its disease prevention and control system over the past 10 years, the commission said the country has seen a significant drop in the infection and death rate of many diseases.

The fight against the COVID-19 greatly improved China's disease control capability, said Lei Zhenglong, an official with the commission.

Targeting premature deaths

China has set reducing premature deaths as a main target of health works, according to Wu Liangyou, another official with the commission.

Premature deaths mean deaths that occur between the age of 30 to 70, so the rate of premature deaths concerns the work force of a society.

One critical cause of premature deaths in China is chronic disease. In 2021, the premature death rate is 15.3 percent for four main chronic diseases: cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes.

The rate is lower than that of 2015, which is 18.5 percent. China's speed of reducing the rate is about three times faster than world average.

The rate is lower than that of India and Russia, but still higher than the U.S., Japan and South Korea, Wu said.