Where do you think the sense of societal responsibility comes from?

Bruce Aylward: I think there were two things working for China in this outbreak, one very recent and one very ancient. You have a culture that goes back centuries and aeons almost. And over time there's this wonderful sense of the importance of society has evolved in Chinese society and in much of the East, of course. It's quite different from the West, where individual rules and the society rules to a certain degree. Another thing is that since SARS you have really strengthened the public health capacities in the country. So that culture combined with the public health capacities can now be mobilized very, very rapidly. Add public health expertise, the people's understanding and strong leadership, and you have what it takes to beat something like COVID-19.

Bruce Aylward, a Canadian epidemiologist and leader of the WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19, shares his insights with China Daily in Geneva on March 6.