COVID-19 pandemic in China: Context, experience and lessons

The first cluster of COVID-19 cases was reported in Wuhan, China on December 29th, 2019. Since then, China has experienced a pandemic of COVID-19. Objective: This study aims to present the context in which the pandemic has evolved, the government's response and the pandemic's impact on public health and national economy. Methods: A review was conducted to collect relevant data from press releases and government reports. Results: COVID-19 poses a major public health threat on China with a cumulative number of cases over 89,000 (data cut-off date: August 9th, 2020). Between January and February 2020, China implemented a series of escalating policies (including a stringent nation-wide lockdown) to combat the pandemic. Therefore, it has been to a large extent limited to the Wuhan region. Social media such as WeChat and SinaWeibo played a crucial role in disseminating government information and public campaigns during the pandemic. Technologies were adopted to enable contact tracing and population travel patterns. The Chinese central government mobilized healthcare resources including healthcare personnel and medical materials to Wuhan in a highly effective way. Both central and regional governments launched financial policies to stimulate the economy, including special loans, tax extension, reduction or waiver. Nevertheless, the economy in China was significantly impacted especially during the lockdown period. Conclusions: China has responded to the COVID-19 epidemic in a highly centralized and effective way. Balancing the needs to prevent a future pandemic and to boost economic recovery remains a challenge.