Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC; ) is an independent agency of the National Health Commission, based in Beijing, China. Established in 1983, it works to protect public health and safety by providing information to enhance health decisions, and to promote health through partnerships with provincial health departments and other organizations. The CCDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease prevention and control (especially infectious diseases), environmental health, occupational safety and health, health promotion, prevention and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the People's Republic of China.
George F. Gao is the current director general. He has made contributions to the study of inter-species pathogen transmission, and organized the first World Flu Day on 1 November 2018, commemorating the centenary of the Spanish flu. This event was also the 15-year commemoration of the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, which led to China's greater emphasis on public health investment.
The CCDC administers a number of laboratories across China, including the biosafety level 2 facility at the Wuhan Center for Disease Control (sometimes confused with the nearby Wuhan Institute of Virology), which received global media coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic for its research into SARS-like coronaviruses of bat origin. On January 10, 2020, the CCDC uploaded the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 to GISAID for global dissemination.