(Yicai Global) April 29 -- China has formed a National Disease Control Bureau to lead future responses to public health emergencies. It will be fronted by the man the country appointed to take charge of the unfolding Covid-19 pandemic in Hubei province early last year.

Wang Hesheng, deputy director of the National Health Commission and director of the Hubei Provincial Health Commission, will be the bureau’s first director, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said yesterday.

Wang is the man who oversaw Hubei’s response to the pandemic as it unfurled in the central province early last year. He was transferred to the Hubei Health Commission in February to take the place of then Director Liu Yingzhi and Party Secretary Zhang Jin who were removed from their posts due to their disappointing handling of the crisis.

Wang will be flanked by Deputy Directors Chang Jile, Shen Hongbing and Sun Yang, the ministry added.

The National Disease Control Bureau will be directly under the jurisdiction of the country’s cabinet, giving it greater administrative powers than the Department of Disease Control which lies under the National Health Commission. Its role is to overcome the shortcomings of the old system to ensure fast, accurate and efficient response to public health emergencies.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor