China has significantly reduced domestic dengue fever outbreaks even as global infections reached record levels, with health officials promoting the country’s low-cost prevention model as a potential template for developing nations struggling to contain the mosquito-borne disease.

Speaking at a side event during the World Health Assembly in Geneva this week, Chinese health authorities said local dengue outbreaks in the country fell sharply in 2025 despite a substantial increase in imported infections linked to rising international travel and broader global transmission.

According to data presented at the event, global dengue infections surged to a record 14.4 million cases in 2024 and remained elevated this year as the disease continued spreading across tropical and subtropical regions.

Dengue fever is now endemic in more than 100 countries, placing nearly half the world’s population at risk, according to the World Health Organization.

Shen Hongbing, vice-minister of China’s National Health Commission and head of the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, said China’s outbreaks are typically triggered by imported cases rather than sustained domestic transmission.

“In 2025, even as imported cases rose by 89 percent, locally transmitted outbreaks fell by 65 percent compared with the previous year,” Shen said during the event hosted by the Hong Kong-based GX Foundation.

Chinese officials attributed the decline to a multilayered disease-control system involving centralized government coordination, intensified mosquito surveillance, early warning mechanisms and rapid outbreak response.

Since 2005, China has maintained dedicated dengue-control funding while steadily expanding investment in monitoring systems and vector-control infrastructure, Shen said.

Authorities have also strengthened cooperation at ports and border crossings to identify imported cases more quickly.

Hospitals and clinics across the country have increasingly deployed intelligent syndromic surveillance software capable of identifying potential dengue cases earlier through symptom tracking and automated alerts.

China has also integrated climate monitoring into disease forecasting systems to anticipate outbreaks tied to rainfall, humidity and temperature shifts that accelerate mosquito breeding.

Because dengue is transmitted through infected mosquitoes, authorities have expanded a nationwide surveillance network tracking mosquito density, insecticide resistance and pathogen spread.

Local governments have intensified environmental management campaigns aimed at reducing stagnant water and mosquito breeding grounds, while deploying digital monitoring systems and automated vector-control technologies.

During outbreaks, health authorities activate emergency surveillance systems, designate risk zones and intensify mosquito-control operations alongside treatment and isolation measures designed to limit transmission.

China is also seeking to export parts of its disease-control model internationally. Shen said Beijing has hosted an international conference on vector management for 10 consecutive years and provided training programs for health professionals from developing countries.

In April, the GX Foundation released a consensus statement promoting a Chinese-developed dengue prevention strategy centered on low-cost physical mosquito-control tools such as mosquito lamps, bed nets and sticky traps.

Arthur Li Kwok-cheung said the strategy has already produced results in Timor-Leste and Honduras and is being expanded into Cambodia and Vanuatu.

The foundation is also developing solar-powered mosquito-control devices, smarter surveillance systems and more accurate rapid test kits aimed at improving dengue prevention in lower-income countries with limited public health resources.

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